


In Brightest Day: The Second Front

by Alphamon_Ouryuken



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:36:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23909506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alphamon_Ouryuken/pseuds/Alphamon_Ouryuken
Summary: (This story acts as a side-story to In Brightest Day...)The evil of Nightmare Moon’s Blackest Night cannot be contained, seeping into another realm and bringing about darkness and death.Sunset Shimmer, having self-exiled herself to an alternate universe inhabited by human counterparts of her homeworld, must take up the power of the Emotional Spectrum, move past her own personal issues, and mend the bonds she has broken in this world in order to bring about a team capable of defending it.But can she do it? Having turned her back on friendship and ruined the friendships of five others, can Sunset bring together a team strong enough, willing enough, to fight for the survival of two different worlds?The fight begins on -- not one -- but two fronts![Note: All characters ages (excluding the CMC and any indicated to be in their age group) are over 18.]





	1. The Beginning of the End

"Out of my way, doormat!" Sunset Shimmer snapped as she pushed a pink-haired, yellow-skinned girl from behind, causing her to drop her books. "Honestly, just because you like to pretend you're invisible doesn't mean you're not still a hindrance!"

"S-s-s-sorry..." The girl stuttered as she started picking up her books.

Sunset Shimmer scoffed as she stormed through the halls, her two cronies Snips and Snails trailing behind her and snickering at the girl's misfortune.

"Yeah you tell her Sunset!" Snips remarked.

"You showed her!" Snails told her, which made Sunset smirk. It didn't do anything to make her anger go but it did satisfy her ego.

"She's just a nobody who needs to remember her place." Sunset replied. "Snot nosed bitch."

"Look who's talking…" A familiar male voice muttered behind her, while not intentionally loud enough to draw attention to himself, Sunset had good enough hearing to pick up on whenever someone was badmouthing her.

"What was that?!" She snapped, turning to give whoever had the audacity to talk down to her a piece of her mind... only to catch a glimpse of blue hair as the individual made himself scarce, evidenced by the door slamming shut.

"Oh dear, someone else has the balls to stand up to the Mighty Sunset. Oh the world is going to end!"

Sunset just gritted her teeth as she turned to see a familiar and unwelcome sight. A cyan blue girl wearing a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and black boots. Her shirt was just plain white but her truly distinguishing feature was her rainbow hair. "Miss me, Sunny Bitch?"

"Oh look who it is, the walking gay pride parade." Sunset quipped, earning a handful of snickers from Snips and Snails. "Did you really take a break from screwing that birdbrain girlfriend of yours just to see me? I'm touched."

"Funny. You actually still using THOSE two idiots as bodyguards?" Rainbow asked. Snips tried to say something but made the mistake of pointing at Dash. She grabbed his finger and bent it to where it pointed back at him. "Sorry, you were trying to say something you weak little coward? Gonna run and hide behind Sunset? I don't blame you. But don't come crawling to me if she doesn't save you."

Sunset simply rolled her eyes as Snips squealed in pain. "So did you just come here to flaunt your overcompensating ego? Or were you actually hoping that going for the "slutty dyke" look would actually make me fall for you?"

A split second after she said that she immediately found herself catching Rainbow's fist inches away from her face. Despite this, she didn't lose her cool. "Now, now, let's not lose our temper. You do remember that would have been the last time you decided to start a fight, don't you?" She smirked arrogantly as Snips fell to the ground nursing his fingers and Snails slowly backed away.

"Like you actually fight your battles, you always have a couple of goons to back you up. The way you let all that anger ride you? You're nothing more than a little pre-schooler crying cause her mommy and daddy love the new kid more than you." Rainbow told her and saw her eye wide with rage. "Aw did I hit a nerve, Sunny Bitch?" Rainbow said as she yanked her fist back. "See ya on the flip side." She said as she walked back to Gilda, who was wearing a brown jacket, a white scarf, white shirt, blue pants that were slightly torn, and light brown shoes.

A lot of scenarios are going through Sunset's mind at that moment, most of which involved brutally beating that arrogant bitch to an inch of her life. _'How DARE she! The nerve of that little-'_

"That's right, you'd better run!" Snails yelled, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Next time you better think before-"

"Before what? You cower in the nearest locker while fatso squeals like a useless pig?!" Sunset snapped, turning her attention to the two boys.

"Well um... w-what we meant was-"

"You two are... UTTERLY useless! You never did a single thing right in all the time you joined me and have only made things WORSE!" Sunset yelled at them. "Can you two do ANYTHING right?!"

"W-well.... w-we got you out of trouble that one time r-remember?" Snails asked as he massaged his finger some more.

"Oh whoop-de-FUCKEDY-DOO! You managed to trick everyone into thinking Fluttershy let the hamsters loose!" Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "Just get out of my sight, I need company in the form of somepony whose intelligence isn't on par with a fucking tube sock!"

"Some.... pony?" Snips asked as he looked at Sunset weird. "Well.... what about that time we managed to help you embarrass Rainbow huh?! Her secret went everywhere! You couldn't have done that without us!" He yelled at her for the first time since meeting her.

"Actually, I could have. I just didn't have the proper means to do so until I finally got the hang of these new devices." She stated bluntly. "Oh, and need I remind you that I had to go behind you and make sure there was no evidence that they could trace back to us?!"

"W-well, see though! Y-you needed us!" Snails begged. "R-right? You still need us! We won't screw up again we swear!"

"Actually, no I don't. You two are the most useless, idiotic people I've ever had to deal with! Now GET LOST!" Sunset snapped as she turned around and stormed off. Sunset stormed out of the school and past the statue... the very one that brought her to this world, completely oblivious to a small ripple that appeared on it's surface...

* * *

In another place, another world known as the magical land of Equestria, Canterlot was in a state of mass panic. The moment the shield shattered several Black Lanterns poured out of them and into the city, attacking everyone in anything in sight, blasting apart houses and striking down civilians before forcibly transforming them into Black Lanterns themselves.

The moment Twilight and Applejack arrived they decided to split up. Twilight made her way towards the castle while Applejack flew deeper into the city to make sure the remaining civilians got out of the city safely.

Twilight quickly dodged to the left to avoid another blast from her current pursuer; an undead Royal Guard. She quickly summoned to construct in the form of a large Raven that gave a loud screech before charging at it's the new prey, however the Black Lantern immediately fired a much bigger and powerful blast containing another ring right before it was shredded to pieces by it's talons.

Twilight quickly dodged out of the blasts path, only for her eyes to widen when she realized that the ring wasn't aimed at her, but rather the Canterlot cemetery! With speed she didn't even know she possessed, Twilight immediately bolted towards the ring and smacked it away, seconds before it could impact.

"Whew! That was close!" The lavender Unicorn said before something caught her eye, she placed a giant shield over the cemetery before another black ring could hit it.

She was about to charge back into the city however she noticed that one of the towers in the castle had been hit. "Oh no!" Wasting no time she quickly charged towards the castle, silently praying that it hadn't hit anypony.

The moment she entered the tower however, she realized that this had been one she'd never entered before, there was nothing inside except for... a mirror?

"Where did the ring go...?" Twilight pondered as she searched around the room. There were no other ways into the room aside from the hole the ring made and the door was locked. She briefly looked at the mirror again, her reflection staring back at her, for a moment she could've sworn she saw the surface of the mirror ripple. She slowly reached out her hoof to touch it…

*BOOOM*

Only for a large explosion to shake the castle, snapping her out of her thoughts. She ran towards the hole in the wall and saw that many more Black Lanterns were attacking the Castle. Moments after the explosion however, a pink shield appeared around the Castle, cutting off the Black Lanterns from there reinforcements while keeping the remaining ones outside at bay. Twilight smirked as she recognized it as her brother's shield. "Thanks BBBFF." She said as she saw several Royal Guards making an effort to escort the remaining civilians towards the Castle. "The less monsters I have to deal with the better!"

Unknown to her however, the ring she missed would soon cause new problems for a whole new world…

* * *

Later that night back at Canterlot High, the surface at the base of the horse statue started to ripple again…

The ripple then expunged a strange object.... a black ring with an upside down triangle, it hundred in the air for a few seconds... and then took off towards the nearest graveyard.

The Black Ring started searching for the perfect host, one whose heart is black was darker than the blackest void...

...soon it found the perfect host, flying to the far end of the cemetery it immediately embedded itself deep within the grave of its future host.

"RISE."

On that word a decayed and morbid hand extended from the ground with the ring firmly on it's hand. It left the Earth..... and a dark chuckle echoed throughout the dead land. "I LIVE AGAIN."

* * *

The sun shined brightly as Sunset made her way down the city streets, if there was one thing missed about Equestria, it was the cleaner air. It took her some time to get used to the city life, but after a while she managed to get a firm grasp on the human culture and how the world worked.

It was still somewhat jarring to know that these humans, despite having a severe lack of magic, were able to advance their technology so far. Upon researching their history, she discovered that compared to them, Equestria would be considered to be in a "steampunk era". It was baffling to say the least.

"Huh.... we are REALLY behind on technology." She whispered to herself as she growled. "It figures Celestia wasn't just holding me back."

As she passed by a local flower shop she felt her stomach growling, quickly reminding her about the second thing she missed, no one judged her when she munched on a bouquet of flowers. Here if she ever wanted to snack on one she'd have do it in private... she still remembered when her ex got her that bouquet of roses for their version of Hearts and Hooves Day, which she'd "accidentally" lost... he never found out what really happened to them.

"I've moved past them.... I am NOT those horses anymore." Sunset groaned as she moved past the flowers. She eventually made it home just as her phone rang.

Sunset sighed as she picked up the phone. "What is it?"

"Sunset, sweetie? I was wondering if you'd be home soon..." A more mature female voice asked. "Sunburst is coming and it's been awhile since we've been together as a family..."

Sunset's eye twitched the moment she heard that name. Careful not to make a sound, she slowly backed away from the front door and stormed off in the opposite direction. "Sorry Mom, I'm... gonna be pretty late..."

".... oh.... I understand." Her mom said with a said tone of voice. "Well..... I wish you'd come back soon... I love y-" However whatever she was going to say was cut off by Sunset hanging the phone up.

"Just like my old family. I might as well not be there at all..." Sunset growled as she stormed off, infuriated beyond belief. "As long as they have their _"favorite child"_ it wouldn't matter anyway..."

She punched a wall as she started slowly calming down. "I should remember.... she's thinking about her other Sunset.... she's willing to fix things.... but I can still use her."

*KABOOM*

A sudden explosion got Sunset's attention and brought her out of thoughts, as turned around she saw several people running for their lives. A black bolt of lightning struck one of the nearby buildings a figure floated through the sky…

The figure was pitch black with a mask that covered up to his nose. From back billowed a cape but the disturbing part... was how.... _dead_ he looked..... and he was having the time of his life.

Sunset took several steps back as fear gripped at her very soul. The power wielded by his... THING was unnatural! Not even in Equestria had she seen such raw, terrifying power.

It only got worse as the figure raised his hand and fired a beam of dark energy up into the sky, said beam then split apart into many smaller ones and began to rain down upon the city, either blasting through the buildings of hitting innocent civilians.

**"So many deaths.... so little time."** The figure said with a smile on his face. **"I wish I could make this moment last for all eternity."**

_'What... what is this!?'_ She thought as she hid behind a building in fear. _'This isn't right! There's no magic here! But this... THING is pulling off Celestia-level shit! How!?'_

She then dodged another blast, not necessarily aimed at her but she'd rather not be killed today. She soon saw the shit ton of dead bodies in his wake.... whoever this was they were clearly a monster. However she soon realized that that wasn't even the worst part. As she quickly scurried into a nearby building she noticed some of the corpses were starting to move. To her horror, they were now surrounded by some sort of black aura as their skin begin to rot and decompose...

Soon cop cars rolled onto the scene and the police aim their guns at the abomination. "FREEZE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE DIRTBAG!" One of them shouted as Sunset watched them. The figure simply laughed as he approached them. "WE WARNED YOU!" With that the police opened fire on him... and though the bullets entered they didn't seem to stop him.

**"Foolish mortals..."** He smirked as he held out his hand, the ring glowing as it shot single beam towards the group before scattering into multiple ones, each one nailing of the cops in the chest. **"Why do you reject the beauty of death?"**

"Maybe because they're not freaks like you?" Sunset mumbled to herself. "Fucking psychopath." The former Equestrian quickly ran through the halls of the building, hoping to find a backdoor. 'If I can just get out of here, I can make a break for the portal... hopefully it's still working...' She thought to herself... only for an explosion to rock the entire building.

"OH SHIT!" She shouted as she dodged the debris from the building. Each rock nearly crushing her head or a limb. "SON OF A BITCH!"

Looking around very close to panicking, she saw that the hallway was blocked off by rubble as quickly ran into a nearby stairway, hoping to find another way down and out of the building...

"HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP!!"

...only to hear a young child's fearful screams…

"...dammit!" Sunset said as she turned to try and find the source of the voice. "HELLO?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

“I… I'M OVER HERE!” The voice called back, leading her downstairs towards the parking lot. “I CLOSE TO THE-AAAAHH!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!” The voice suddenly screamed in terror, prompting Sunset to run faster. The moment she got downstairs she saw a young girl with light orange skin and light purple hair, her left leg was stuck under some rubble, and closing in on her helpless form was none other than one of those creatures.

"BACK OFF YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Sunset yelled as she She then grabbed a steel beam and smashed it’s head in from behind. Not wasting any time, she ran to the trapped child and started trying to lift up the rubble that trapped her leg.

"Th-Thank you..." The child stuttered as she tried to pull herself free, only to look at her in both shock and confusion upon realizing who she was. "Wait, aren't you-DUCK!!" She suddenly screamed, grabbing her hair and yanking her down just as a blast of dark energy struck the spot her head had previously occupied, looking behind herself she saw that it was stumbling around, trying to aim properly at it’s unseeable target.

“Ok, we gotta get you out of here!” Sunset grunted as she lifted up the rubble off of her leg, giving her just enough time to crawl out from under the rubble, her leg bruised and bleeding.

"O-ow." She moaned as she gently rubbed her leg.

"Hey you need to get somewhere safe. Like NOW." Sunset said as she looked around trying to find a safe spot.

“I-I can’t stand...” She gasped in pain as she was helped to her feet.

Sunset bit her lip as she walked her towards the stairway, looking behind her she saw the creature slowly regrowing its head. Thinking quickly she grabbed a steel beam and helped her out the door and handed her the beam. “Use this to balance your weight! I’ll hold that thing off, so just get moving!”

"Th-thanks Sunset." The kid hurried off as Sunset grabbed another big cinder block. Ready to smash his head in again.

Unfortunately, the creature ended up slamming its fist into her stomach, knowing the wind out of her and sending her flying into a wall. Sunset coughed up blood as she struggled to her feet, only to fall to her knees in pain. Looking up she saw the creature regrowing its head as it approached her, it’s ring glowing menacingly...

_‘No! It… it can’t end like this!’_ She thought as she backed away, fear gripping her very soul. _'I... I WON'T let it end like this!'_

Soon Sunset managed to get to her feet and grabbed a metal bar and and glared at the creature, her eyes red with rage against this thing. Just who the hell did it think she was?!

"YOU BASTARD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?! I'M SUNSET FUCKING SHIMMER!!" She screamed as she held up her improvised weapon defiantly. "I WAS CELESTIA'S PRIZED PUPIL, MY TALENTS SECOND TO NONE! AND IF YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I'M GOING TO GO OUT LIKE A LITTLE BITCH AND BECOME ONE OF YOUR UNDEAD SOLDIERS YOU HAVE ANOTHER THOUGHT COMING! THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL EVER TAKE ME IS IF I'M CREMATED!!" She snapped as she ran towards the creature, screaming in rage and not caring how outmatched she was. If she was to die, then she'd die fighting! Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed behind her and three more of those creatures dropped down from above. Sunset glared over her shoulder as she held up her weapon. "Com'on! I'm ready for all of y-"

However she was immediately cut off as something flew down through the ceiling right in front of her; a red light that released a burst of energy, knocking the three creatures back yet drawing Sunset forward...

‘Sunset Shimmer… You belong to us.’

As the light died down, Sunset saw that the source of it was some sort of red ring. Before she could question anything however, the ring flew towards her and slipped itself onto her middle finger on her right hand.

Sunset let out a scream of pain and she was completely engulfed in a pillar of crimson fire, it felt like the energy surrounding her body engulfing her very soul. However, she soon felt something different, it was like the power itself wasn't trying to hurt her, but rather empower her, bond with her…

As the creatures backed away from the raging inferno, they heard a voice uttering a chant of some sort as their target stepped out of the flames.

“In Vengeful Day, in Hateful Night  
Let those who wronged me fear my might!”

As she stepped into full view, she was now clad in crimson red armor, a chestplate with the same icon as her ring above the navel, twin metallic dragon wings, armored spiked greaves with clawed feet, a spiked gauntlet on her right arm, while on her left arm was a dragon’s head that obscured her entire hand, and finally her mask was similar to a football helmet with black devil horns, but appeared to have an armored chinstrap that seemed to double as a vent over her mouth instead of a faceguard, and a dark red mask that gave her piercing red eyes.

“All those who oppose truest hate,  
Shall see my ring and seal their fate!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the side-story yo In Brightest Day! While it may take a while to get more chapters out, I'm always looking for more co-writers!
> 
> For those of you who don't know, Sunset's armor is based off of Megaton's Dragon mode from Beast Wars, and the mask is from Beast Machines.


	2. Burning Rage!

Rainbow Dash scoffed as she kicked the door in. "Arrogant cow, honestly! Why do they even let her attend?! She's nothing but trouble!"

"Dash, I've only got so many doors." Gilda grumbled as she followed her in and put her door back in place. "Seriously one more kick and this door falls apart I swear..."

"Oh excuse me! I'm just kind tired of having to put up with little-miss Queen Bitch!" Rainbow retorted as she slumped down on the couch, massaging her temples tiredly. "It's bad enough that Scoots has gotta deal with that shit from the twerp Diamond and her little sidekick Silver... who's to say Sunset won't turn her sights on her next!?"

"I get ya Dash." Gilda said as she slumped down and turned on the television and the firestick. "Alright. What movie ya wanna watch Rainy?"

"I really don't care." Rainbow groaned before laying down on her back. "As long as it's mindless violence with loud explosions, I really don't care..."

*BOOM*

“Nice choice!” Rainbow smiled without looking at the TV.

"Uh..... that wasn't the TV Dash." Gilda said. "I haven't selected anything."

Rainbow blinked before glancing out the window... and seeing a powerful red beam of energy erupting from the city. "What... the hell... is that?!"

"Whatever it is? It's not our concern." Gilda said as she chose something. "Holy shit Dash they actually got Getter Robo on Hulu!"

"Gilda... do you not remember exactly WHERE Scootaloo lives?!" Rainbow screamed as she smacked that remote out of her hands.

"Wait... FUCK!" Gilda shouted as she grabbed her keys. "You're riding bitch!" She shouted as she hopped darted out the door.

* * *

The two girls weren't the only ones whose attention had been drawn to the pillar of energy. On the opposite end of the city, three figures wearing hoodies rushed out of restaurant as they saw the pillar of red light erupting from the center of the city.

“What the hell is that!?” The youngest of the trio asked.

“I wish I knew…” The more skeptic one shrugged as she glanced at their eldest comrade. “What do you think, 'Dagi? Could it be-”

“No, it's not magic. This feels... different.” The eldest of the trio stated as she stared at the pillar for a few seconds before smiling maliciously. “Whatever it is, it's powerful. Probably even more powerful than that old coot that banished us…”

"W-wait, seriously?!" The youngest one asked in shock.

"Yes... and that power might just be our ticket to finally ruling this pathetic little world!" She turned her attention back to the two with determination in her eyes as her necklace was engulfed in an ominous red glow. “And we're going to make that power our own, no matter what it takes!”

* * *

In a more suburban part of the city, the pillar of energy caught the attention of another girl as she was writing down her report for a class assignment. She wore a lab coat, had lavender skin and her hair was tied back in a bun with a pencil stuck into it.

"OK, if my research is correct, this should-"

Suddenly, all the machinery in her room started going haywire, repeatably beeping and their lights flashing red, startling her out of her chair. "Sweet mother of-what the heck is going on?!"

Her canine companion leaped out of his resting place on her bed and onto the desk, barking hostilely at the window. Confuse and curious, she got up and opened the widow to see the same massive pillar of red energy shooting out of the city.

"My god..." The girl whispered, adjusting her glasses. "What on Earth is that?!"

* * *

Sunset could only smile as she felt the energy flow through her body. “This… this power…this rage! It’s...perfect! I can… I can feel it all!” She cackled as she summoned a powerful cyclone of energy, ripping apart the creatures surrounding her in an instant.

"Oh yes.... oh this is going to be FUN!" Sunset shouted as red liquid dripped from her mouth and onto the remains of one of the monsters, melted it away. "I HAVE FUCKING ACID SPIT!? HELL YEAH!"

With newfound confidence she flew upwards, bursting out of the building and bolting straight towards the nearest demonic creature and slammed her dragon-fist through its ribcage. "HEY ASS CLOWNS!" Sunset shouted, getting the other creatures attention. “You've reached the telemarketing company of ME KICKING YOUR FUCKING ASS!!” At that she summoned up a fiery tornado and began cleaving and burning through the monsters. Not a single one was spared from her wrath before she arrived outside and faced the one that summoned all of them. "AND WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU ASSCLOWN!?"

The figure gave her a twisted smile. "I am Black Hand, the Entity of Death!" He stated as he summoned a sphere around himself and several of his Undead Warriors began to surround her. "And you shall be one of many who shall join our ranks!"

".... how about FUCK YOU I'M NOT DYING HERE!" Sunset shouted as she burned through half of the warriors he summoned before slamming and slashing the others.

"Amusing... but ultimately futile..." He stated, his right hand glowing ominously as he fired a beam that took the form of a serpent. "You shall accept death's embrace as all of us have, only then will you and this world know true peace..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sunset yelled as she swiped and slashed his jaw off. She then slashed the serpent and the arm off before melting it with her napalm breath.

Black Hand roared in pain as he held what remained of his arm, black ooze dripping out of the wound. **_“You… you arrogant WENCH!”_** He snarled as several of his Undead Warriors surrounded him. **_“You dare refuse my gracious offer!?”_**

"Gracious?! You call murdering and creating zombies a 'gracious offer'?!" Sunset roared as she spewed napalm at them once again. "You can take your offer and SHOVE IT!"

**_“Be it at young age or elderly, everyone and everything is consumed by the embrace of death!”_** Black Hand explained as his minions summoned a circular barrier to block the acidic blood. **_“You are no different! By my hand or another, or even old age, you will die!”_** He continued as his minions proceeded to summon eight massive serpent heads.

"Sure. But I'd rather not be used as a puppet! I'm done living like that you decaying piece of shit!" She shouted as she spewed fire at him once again. Unfortunately for her Black Hand was two steps ahead of her, several more of his undead warriors quickly positioned themselves between her blast and her target as cannon fodder while the serpent heads immediately lunged at her. Two of them quickly attempted to attack from both sides only for her to fly upwards to avoid them... and then three more of them quickly surrounded her, blasting her from all angles.

Quickly Sunset threw up a barrier between her and the beams. "SON OF A BITCH, ARE YOU THAT MUCH OF A COWARD?! YOU REALLY THINK THAT JUST HIDING BEHIND ENEMIES WILL STOP ME?! I'LL FUCKING RIP YOU APART!"

The serpent heads quickly bit into the shield, each one either attempting to rip through it or blast it in the attempt deteriorate its power. **_"I prefer to think of it as being tactful."_** Black Hand smirked as his arm slowly started to regrow. **_"You may have the unique power needed to harm us, however there must be a limit to how much power you can use. I simply need to wait that power out."_**

"AKA being a _LITTLE BITCH_ while your workers do all the heavy lifting because you're a giant coward!" Sunset yelled at him with a dark chuckle. "Just face it whoever you were before? Was a loser. And once a loser? _ALWAYS. A LOSER._ "

Black Hand just shrugged as he watched the shield begin to crack under the constructs relentless attacks. _**“And yet it's working. I'd say the results outweigh the methods…”**_ He said as his arm finished regrowing and his ring returned to him. **_“So tell me, if I'm a loser then what does that make you, the one who's about to die by my hand?”_**

"Oh just patient as FUCK boy!" Sunset roared as she release the energy she'd been storing, let out a massive burst of energy knocked the others out of the way and charged at him. She then grabbed him and threw him down the street and sped after him, going too fast for the Black Lanterns too catch up at the moment.... and all of a sudden Black Hand's bravado has just vanished.

Sunset smirked as she slammed her Dragon arm into his face, gleefully relishing in his terrified expression as the adrenaline pushed her forward. Summoning a blade from her ring hand she sliced his left arm off, then in one quick motion did the same to his right before he could form another construct.

**_"_ _W-wait! You don't-"_** Whatever he was going to say was cut short by him having his head sliced off.

“I think I do…” Sunset said before exhaling another torrent of acidic blood onto the remains of his corpse, proud of her handiwork she casually chucked his head into the pool, leaving it to melt with the rest of him. “That should take care of their leader, now to-”

Sunset was suddenly cut off when she heard a disturbing chuckle coming from her opponent. _**“Y-You think I'm… th-their leader…?”**_

“Are you still talking?” Sunset scoffed, rolling her eyes.

**_“I am… but a prelude to the coming storm…”_** He gasped as the acidic blood ate away at his remains. _**“You… you cannot stop…. the coming onslaught… no m-matter what happens... my master w-will prevail… ”**_

"Yeah, but right now it doesn't look like you'll be here to see it." Sunset said before blasting him into kingdom come. "Swear I hate it when people like him keep talking. It gets grating."

As she turned her attention back to the city however, a black ring immediately flew out of the rubble and shot straight into the sky. Sunset immediately attempted to blast it with her own ring, however it immediately emitted an energy shield and flew higher and higher until it disappeared from sight.

**_It is already written. The city will be ours..._ **

* * *

“Faster G!” Rainbow screamed as her friend drove through the city streets. “For all we know Scoots is trapped somewhere begging for help!”

"I KNOW! I KNOW!" Gilda shouted as she put her foot to the pedal. The two dodging other cars including a few that honked at them, to which Gilda responded with a "FUCK YOU!" and a middle finger as a send off.

"This is all my fault! I just let Scoots be out alone and now she might be in trouble and FUCK I can't believe I was such a idiot!" Rainbow said with panic in her voice.

"Three things, one: she was familiar the area to walk on her own. Two: the weather forecast didn't say anything about a GODDAMN ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!" Gilda retorted as she tore through the traffic and ran over one of the undead beasts that had been cut in half.

"Yeah and what the fuck is number three?!" Rainbow yelled at her as they ran over yet another zombie and crushed its head in..

A few seconds after she asked the car screeched to a halt as another zombie fell right in front of her, the force jerking Dash forward and slamming her against the back of the seat. "Put on your damn seat-belt!"

"Okay. I had that coming but SHIT Gilda!" Rainbow yelled as she massaged her head and buckled her seat belt.

Before she could retort another figure wearing red armor landed right in front of the car, slamming its fist into the zombie's head and crushing it like a grape. "AND THIS TIME STAY DEAD!" The figure snarled as she let loose a burst of energy, vaporizing its remains. She then turned her attention to Gilda and Dash... and simply scoffed before taking off toward the sky again.

"......Gilda. What the _hell_ was that?" Rainbow asked as she nervously looked out the window. "Like seriously the actual _HELL_ was that?"

"I dunno, but it seems to hate those zombies with a passion, so that's a plus." Gilda retorted before hitting the gas. "Let's just pray we don't end up as collateral damage..."

"DASH!!"

Rainbow was very thankful she had her seat-belt on when Gilda hit the brakes once more, looking out the window they saw to both their relief and horror, Scootaloo slowly limping out of an alleyway, her leg bleeding and her using and iron pole as support.

"OH MY GOD SCOOTS!" Rainbow shouted as she unbuckled and got of the car. She ran towards her and once she got close she hugged her tightly as though she would never let go of Scootaloo ever again. “It's ok Scoots. I'm here, we're gonna get you the closest hospital we can find!”

“D-Dash… she… she saved me…” Scootaloo whispered through her tears as her big sister picked her up. “She s-saved my… life….” She mumbled before passing out in her arms.

Rainbow quickly picked her up and carried her bridal style back to the car as fast as she could. “STEP ON IT GILDA!!”

“Don't need to tell me twice!” Gilda retarded as she hit the gas, tearing down the city streets as fast as she could…

* * *

"Alright. Just line on up bitches." Sunset said with a sadistic smile on her face. The zombies all just snarled and growled at her. "You're all going to die again... so why not in trying to give me a scratch?"

As zombie after zombie attempted to attack her, she easily cut them down with little to no effort, either slicing through them with her blade, drenching them in her acidic blood, or simply blasting them to pieces from afar. She smiled at the carnage, delighting in the destruction her fight brought to the zombies. "This has been fun boys and girls."

The remaining zombies immediately attempted to rush her from all sides, only for her to dart upwards and charge up another blast, however as she did the orb suddenly became smaller and smaller, to the point where it resembled baseball. “What the-!?”

_'Warning: Ring at 20% power, must recharge immediately.’_

"Wait I got power levels?! What sort of bullshit is that?!" Sunset roared as she launched the ball, which exploded upon impact, doing a very good job of blasting away the remaining zombies for the time being. "I have to be careful how much fun I have?!"

_ 'Warning: Power Levels at 15%. Ring requires immediate recharging.' _

As if responding to its statement, Sunset's armor immediately started to lose it glow, her Armor slowly vanishing to the point where all that remained was a red and black bodysuit, the only part of her original armor that stayed being her helmet. "Shit. I have to get out of here right now." Sunset said as she rushed off from the fight in order to make herself scarce.

* * *

In a dark cave, a lone ring flew into a large cavern, in the middle a figure sat atop a throne made from several skeletons and decomposing corpses.

**_".... something dares.... to oppose us."_** The figure snarled as the ring just fell down onto one of the corpses. _**"How..... utterly drool and boring. I was promised sights.... and I get boredom."**_

As an image of Sunset's Armored form appeared in it's hand, it snarled as it crushed it by closing its first. **_"All will return to the void of death sooner or later. And soon the dead shall rise again..."_**

* * *

“In Vengeful Day, in Hateful Night  
Let those who wronged me fear my might!  
All those who oppose truest hate,  
Shall see my ring and seal their fate!”

In an abandoned warehouse, Sunset gasped as she felt her energy return to her. This power was nothing short of invigorating, and to think, it was all hers! _'With this power, I could overthrow Celestia herself! I could dominate Equestria'_ She smirked as she clenched her fist, creating a crimson fireball as her power battery vanished.... only to dispel it when she remembered Black Hand's final words.

_ “ You… you cannot stop…. the coming onslaught… no m-matter what happens... my master w-will prevail… ” _

"Whoever that bastard was working for... they must be pretty damn powerful to resurrect the dead, not even the most powerful mages could pull that off... not since Celestia brought about the necromancy purge long ago..." She mused to herself as her original attire appeared over her body suit, her ring now covered up by her gloves, she briefly considered leaving this world for Equestria... however she quickly dismissed that thought when she remembered Soooctaloo at the mercy of one of those beasts.

"Leaving here wouldn't be the best choice, at least not yet. First I'll make sure whoever is summoning the dead is put down for good... just to make sure no one stronger than me is around..."She reassured herself. "And then..." She summoned a blade from her ring and sliced through several support beams in one swift motion, as she exited the warehouse the entire structure collapsed behind her.

"There will be _no one_ left to stand in my way..."

* * *

High above the Earth's atmosphere, a bright green light hovered past the moon before coming to a stop as its light glowed brighter...

_'Willpower detected.'_

...and it shot down towards the planet, in search of its new bearer...


	3. Raging Internally

Two Weeks Later...

[-and in breaking news another body has been found-] A newscaster said as Scootaloo flipped through the channels from her bed. The pain had been reduced but it was still there.

“Ugh, bored, bored, bored, bored…” She groaned as she continued to flip through the channels.

[Don't hate me because I'm beautiful~]

“Too late.”

[YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!]

“Ugh, gag me.”

[Moon-Prism Power!]

“Seen it.”

[-in other news, police are still baffled as to how and why these creatures have started attacking the city…]

"....okay really, there's nothing else on?" Scootaloo said to herself as she turned the set off with a groan. "...no TV for me then."

“Hey Scoots!” A familiar voice called out as the door opened. Rainbow Dash and Gilda walked into the room, Rainbow herself carrying a few books while Gilda was holding some balloons and flowers. “How's our little trooper doing?”

"I'm taking a few lickings and keep on ticking." Scoots said with a confident smirk. "Take more then some bricks to take me down."

"Good to hear." Rainbow smiled, ruffling her hair.

"And thanks for the balloons and flowers Gilda!" Scootaloo smirked. "And here I thought you weren't soft enough to go through the trouble..."

"N-Nah, your friends back at school were worried about you so they asked us to bring you a few presents." She hastily explained, leaving out the fact that only a third of those balloons and flowers were from her friends, Gilda had gotten the rest of them.

"Wow.... well... I'm grateful for the flowers then." Scoots said with a blush as the flowers were placed beside her.

"That's not all we bought!" Rainbow added, placing one of the books on Scootaloo's pillow.

The young girl's eyes widened as she smiled. "Daring Do and the Pharaoh's Tomb!? You're the best!" She shouted, hugging her older sister.

"Only for the best little sister in the world." Rainbow said as she hugged her back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm impressed you managed to get so far in your condition..." Gilda mused to herself. "You sure you don't remember who helped you out of the building?"

"I.... I-I'm sorry but I can't." Scootaloo said with a sigh. "My head's just really hurting and.... well.... my memory isn't the greatest yet..."

Rainbow and Gilda shared an uncertain look, from what they'd been told the doctors had chalked up her lack of recollection to "trauma-induced memory loss", as most of the damage was done to her leg and she didn't seem to have a concussion of any sort.

"Let's at the very least wait till she's well enough to get out of that that bed before we start pressing her for answers..." Gilda whispered, Rainbow simply nodded in response.

"So as long as you two are here, do you wanna read some in Daring Do with me?" Scootaloo asked eagerly. "I'm already on the fifteenth chapter, and things are getting really good!"

"Anything for you sis." Rainbow said as she sat down on the chair next to Scoots' bed. "You wanna join in, G?" Rainbow asked her.

"... ah why not?" She shrugged, sitting down next to them as the sun began to set over the horizon...

* * *

Sunset yawned as she tuned out most of Cheerilee's lecture, occasionally glancing at her ring, covered up by her leather gloves. _'Where did this come from exactly? I know why it chose me.... but what MADE it exactly?'_ Sunset said to herself as she looked her hand over.

"Did you hear about that thing that saved the city?" She heard one of the students whisper behind her, she felt a small bit of pride realizing they were talking about her, but didn't let it show.

"Yeah. Heard it tore through some undead freaks... it was like a hurricane." Another one said. Sunset was starting to have some REALLY hard time trying to keep herself composed.

"Yeah, people are calling her " _"The Crimson Dragon"_!" Another whispered, earning an eye twitch from Sunset. She wasn't exactly liking the name…

"Really? Well that's a stupid-ass name." Rainbow said, which caused Sunset to scowl, suddenly having an urge to like the name, if only to spite her. A small spark emitted from the ring, she shook her head and turned her attention back to it. She couldn't help but feel a bit miffed. It had been two weeks since those creatures had attacked the city, and thoughts always went back to the final words of that freak Black Hand.

“You… you cannot stop…. the coming onslaught… no m-matter what happens... my master w-will prevail… ”

_'Who the hell was he even working for?'_

"Sunset, are you even paying attention?" Cheerilee asked her, causing everyone to snicker at Sunset's misfortune.

"Huh? Yeah yeah, you were going over the fifteenth chapter of Daring Do..." Sunset rolled her eyes as she looked out the window in disinterest.

Cheerilee was unamused by this attitude. "Well then if you were really paying attention then perhaps you can tell me what the three puzzles she solved in that chapter were, without looking at the book?"

"Busted." Gilda snorted in the background causing Dash to chuckle as well. Sunset just growled at them.

"Well it’s not like Rainbow and her girlfriend weren't paying that much attention anyways." Sunset said with a smirk. “If you’re gonna get on my case about it then-”

To her surprise however Rainbow immediately stood up with a confident smirk on her face. “The first puzzle involved walking with your left foot forward as a sign of respect to the cursed statues of the Pharaoh, the second one required you to listen to the riddle of the Sphinx, then take the word “spy”, the letter “D”, and the sound “er” and put them all together to make the word “spider”, and the last one was a test of which object was of true value: a fabulous golden cup encrusted with jewels or a simple, worn and battered clay cup. Taking the normal cup would grant eternal life while taking the golden cup made you rapidly age to death.”

_'....h-how? She NEVER pays attention! How the hell does she know this shit so easily?!'_ Sunset thought to herself as she gulped and turned back towards Cheerilee, with a red tint in her cheeks.

“Uh… yeah that's correct.” Cheerilee stuttered, seemingly just as surprised as Sunset was… along with a few other students in the class. She then took a deep breath and recomposed herself before turning her attention to Sunset. “Well Sunset, it seems you could stand to learn a thing or from Rainbow if she's able to pay more attention than you in class.” She stated, prompting another round of laughter from the rest of the classroom.

Sunset bit her lip as she felt another small spark emit from her ring, she glared at Rainbow and Gilda only for Gilda mouth the words “suck it”.

* * *

"Just.... how.... HOW IN THE FUCK did that _two bit bitch_ manage to pay attention!?" Sunset growled as she rubbed her ring hand. "No fucking way she should've been able to recite that entire puzzle sequence so easily."

As she walked down the hall she felt a pulse, looking around she couldn't help but feel like something was drawing her to the source... she made her way up the stairs, briefly taking her glove off after making sure no one was around to see the ring. For a moment her ring sparked again... before suddenly fizzling out, as if it had lost track of what it was looking for...

_'What was that all about?'_ she thought to herself as she made her way back down the stairs, completely unaware of that someone was watching her from the shadows... the green ring around their finger glowing slightly…

* * *

In the restricted section of the city, most of the buildings and streets were still in ruins from Sunset’s battle with Black Hand and his Black Lantern forces. The decaying bodies had been cleaned up and the reconstruction of the area was already underway.

However as the construction workers packed up for the night and the security guards began their shifts, a city bus arrived not two blocks away, it’s interior engulfed in a lime green mist...

"Ah, finally here!” A hooded girl wearing a bandana smiled as the doors opened and she hopped off the bus. “Thanks for the free ride mister!” She giggled as her friends wearing similar attire walked out behind her, pulling up their bandannas to hide their faces.

“Yes, it was so generous of you.” The eldest one cooed as a lime green mist quickly seeped into the jewel on her necklace. “Now remember what you’re supposed to to...”

The bus drive simply nodded dumbly, his eyes glazed over as he shut the door. A few seconds after the trio made themselves scarce he slammed his hand on the steering wheel, honking the horn as long as possible.

“What the hell was that?!” One of the guards yelled as several of them ran towards the source of the noise, giving the trio enough time to sneak into the restricted area as the Sun began to set.

* * *

"I'm home..." Sunset sighed as she opened the front door, kicking off her shoes and casually storming through the living room. Barely giving her mother a second glance. Her mother was a middle-aged woman with short reddish-orange hair, deep orange-toned skin, and deep blue eyes.

"Oh! H-honey we weren't.... is something wrong dear?" Her mother; Autumn Shimmer asked as she rushed to her daughter's side.

"No mom. I'm perfectly fine. Just another boring dull day." Sunset told her as she walked to the kitchen.

"Oh... I see, w-well your dad's working late tonight, I was thinking maybe I could make your favorite dish for dinner?" She asked somewhat timidly.

"Fine, works for me." Sunset said with a shrug.

Her mother flinched at her cold tone. "S-sweetie, if there's something bothering you, you know you can just-"

"Mom, save that talk for the family favorite will you?" Sunset scoffed as she took a bottle of soda from the fridge and made her way upstairs.

"O-okay." Her mom said as she went to the kitchen begin working on food. "I-I'll be working as fast as I can."

Sunset sighed as she entered her room, throwing her bag onto her bed and slumping down onto her chair. Glancing down at her desks she saw a photo of herself as a child, or rather her human self riding on the shoulders of a young man.

Her older brother Sunburst, or as she'd dubbed him: the family favorite.

"Can't believe I thought he cared." Sunset snorted. "Smarter now though. Don't trust anyone but myself."

As she turned the picture away, she found her thoughts drifting back to her old life... back when she was still a pony...

* * *

_"Mom! Mom look!" A young filly shouted as she ran into the living room, waiting for her was an adult Unicorn with a deep orange coat, a short reddish-orange mane, and her cutie mark was a sun with an orange spiral. She wore a pearl necklace and matching earrings._

_"What is it daughter?" Her mother asked in a stoic tone. "What have you come to tell me?"_

_“I finally did it! I learned how to use levitation magic!” She smiled as she pointed her horn at the vase on the table. Her horn started to glow as the vase was enveloped in a turquoise aura, slowly hovering off the surface of the table. Sunset started to sweat as the vase wobbled in her grasp before she sat it down gently. “S-see? I-I really did it... just like… big bro!” She said, panting tiredly yet beaming with pride at her accomplishment._

_"... mhm. I see, doing a basic spell he did years before you? I say that's.... rather disappointing dear." Her mom said dryly._

_Sunset winced at that, even though she heard her cold dismissive tone before, it still hurt all the same._ 'No! I-I can still do it, I just have to...'

_Without another word she turned her attention to the roses inside the vase itself as her horn glowed once more, a strained look came across her face as she shut her eyes tightly._ 'Come on.... for mom.... do it for mom!' _She mentally told herself._

_For a moment an aura wrapped around the roses, at first they seemingly did nothing, but then they started wrapping around each other and were enveloped in a glowing light, when the light died down Autumn found herself looking at a single large rose about the size of her head._

_"I did it... I DID IT!!" Sunset cheered, happily jumping around the table._

_Sunset looked up at her mother, eagerly awaiting her response and happily taking in her shocked expression. What would you say? Call it amazing? Tell her how proud she was? Say that she was on her way to surpassing her brother?_

_"I expected nothing less."_

_And with that she left the living room, leaving the young filly alone, slowly registering what she'd just heard._

* * *

"Not even a simple “good job” or “I'm proud of you”, just “I expected nothing less”..." Sunset snarled to herself. "Really? You expected nothing less then me doing a spell Sunburst couldn’t accomplish? Fine. No that's PERFECTLY fine you two bit stuck up bitch."

She was brought out of her thoughts upon hearing someone knocking on her door. "S-Sunset? Sweetie? I-I just wanted to let you know that dinner's ready..." The timid voice of her mother called out from the other side.

"...yeah, sure." Sunset said with a roll of the eyes as she opened her door and brushed past her, making her way downstairs. “Funny how all that pompous bravado goes out the window the moment she realizes how badly she fucked up..." She scoffed as she sat at the dinner table. _'Wonder how my real parents are. Doubt they give two shits anymore....'_

* * *

“So… what are we looking for exactly?” The middle-aged member of the trio asked skeptically, kicking over a trash can as the trio made their way through the ruined city streets. “This place in a total dump, not to mention the chick that was fighting here is probably long gone...”

"We're not here to find the one who caused it per say." The eldest of the trio said as they looked around. "Just looking for something that can make us strong enough to bring this world to it’s knees…well, that and the power to get back home is all.” She added as her jewel shined brightly. “Can you imagine how much power she held? There’s got to be at least some leftover excess energy from the fight that we can siphon...”

"I dunno.... but I'm getting some _major_ leftover anger." The youngest one said as she sniffed the air and pulled down her bandanna. "I still don't see why you had us wear these weird masks Dagi."

"Because this looks suspicious as hell? Did you consider that moron?" The eldest one, Dagi, replied to her.

"HEY! I'm not a moron!" She snapped, getting close to her face. "It's just that these things are itchy!" She groaned, scratching her neck.

"Well deal with it for a little bit longer." Dagi said as she got back to searching. The youngest one pouted as she pulled her bandanna back up.

"Ugh, fine..." The youngest one groaned as she pulled it back up, she sniffed the air few more times and started looking around, setting her sights on an entrance to the subway. "I think I might've found something!" She smiled before rushing down the stairs.

"Now we're getting somewhere." The second oldest said as she followed her younger friend. The eldest following suit not too long later.

* * *

"Thanks for the grub mom, I'm going to bed..." Sunset sighed as she left the table, not bothering to look back at her as she made her way upstairs.

“Sunset wait!” Autumn called out as she reached her room. “Sweetie listen, I know your Dad and I haven’t been the best parents...”

“Understatement of the _fucking century._ ” Sunset scoffed as she opened the door.

“-but we’re trying, _dear God we’re trying._ We just want to have a stable relationship with you again! But we need you to at least open up to us first!” She pleaded, putting a hand on her shoulder.

For a moment Sunset’s eyes flashed red as her ring sparked once more, memories of her past life flashing through her head. “Oh really? Where was _that_ kind of commitment when I was a little girl thinking that I had to _earn your love?_ ”

“S-Sunset I-” Autumn began, only for Sunset to push her hand off her shoulder, her ring emitting another spark.

"Listen here and listen well _Mom_." She snarled, turning around to face her. "You and Dad had your chances to have a "stable relationship" with me years ago _and you blew it!_ All because of your pompous, pretentious, elitist egos! So I'll "open up to you" when I'm _good and damn ready!_ In the meantime, why don't you go back to doing what you and Dad are good at? _Pretending you only have one child!_ " She snapped as she slammed the door in her face.

Sunset gritted her teeth as another spark emitted from her ring, while she was venting out her frustrations more towards her Equestrian parents, she was going off of what she knew about her human counterpart's history. Thankfully her human self had kept a diary, so she knew exactly what went down between this version of her family. Like her own family, her parents often ignored her in favor of her older brother, who was a child prodigy. And any accomplishments she made were met with "We expected nothing less" or "Sunburst did it better".

...until she'd finally had enough and simply left, leaving behind a single note.

Sunset was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sounds of her mother weeping behind the door. Sunset bit her lip as she placed her right hand over her chest, taking in what she’d just said. _‘Did… did I really just say that?’_ She mentally asked herself as she looked down at her ring, she glanced back at the door for a few seconds before making her way towards the window as her ring began to glow....

* * *

Back in the abandoned subways, the trio carefully navigated through the subway tunnels, eventually coming across an abandoned train. The trio continued onward through the interior until they came across another station, and near the stairs was what appeared to be a large puddle of bloody red liquid, its surface bubbling occasionally and small sparks of red electricity dancing across the surface. The ceiling above the puddle had a large hole in it that looked like it had melted away due to some acidic force, the hole itself having been covered up by more fallen rubble.

"Sonata, I think you found what we were looking for." The second eldest one said as she smirked.... earning a slap from the eldest.

"Gee. Please say our true names aloud again please? I don't think the cops heard us that time." Dagi growled.

“Listen here you-” She snarled.

As the two of them started arguing, the youngest one, Sonata, casually picked up a discarded cane and carefully poked the puddle with it. Almost instantly the lower half of the cane was burned away upon contact. “Yikes…” Sonata then turned around to her arguing friends. "Um girls? You uh.... _might_ want to see this." She said, showing them the cane.

"Ok WOW." The second-eldest one deadpanned as they stared at the puddle. "What IS this thing?"

Dagi got closer to the puddle, casually sniffing the air around it. "Whatever it is, I can feel the negative energy just wafting off it... it's like it's just a massive puddle of hatred and anger..."

"I dunno.... but I think it could melt us and I don't want that to happen." Sonata said as she tossed the rest of the cane into the puddle. "So... Dagi, can you and Ari stop fighting?"

The two glanced at each other and scoffed as they turned away from each other. “Fine…”

“Good! Now then… you two think our necklaces can absorb his kind of power?” She asked curiously, turning her attention back to the puddle...

"They should be able to." Dagi said as she got closer and held her necklace close to the puddle. "They _are_ made of hatred. So it should be easy pickings."

The puddle started to bubble rapidly as a crimson mist rose from it and was swiftly sucked into the jewel on her necklace. Dagi fastened the necklace around her neck... and immediately felt a rush of energy flow through her body, an aura of crimson energy appeared above her... in the image of a fish-like creature...

"D-Dagi...? Are you OK?" Ari asked nervously.

"So... much... power..." Dagi gasped as she clasped her hand around her gemstone.

"....oh shit." Sonata said as she started backing away. "A-Ari I think we should leave now."

"N-No.. it's f-f-fine..." Dagi gasped and the image vanished in to her jewel. "I... I can contain it...." She sighed as she calmed down, falling to her knees. "This... this is what we were looking for...."

"But that's.... that's _pure rage_. I don't think that's something we can just eat." Ari said nervously while Sonata nodded her head.

It was at that moment where the group heard something outside, something loud. And for a moment they all sensed it; rage. More rage than this one puddle could produce.

"Well then, we'll just go right for the source!" Dagi smiled maliciously as she ran towards the stairs, two remaining two sharing a nervous look before running after her.

* * *

_'Alright.... now how about another tour of the city?'_ Sunset thought to herself as she summoned up her armor and took to the skies. If there was one thing she knew, it was that if she was going to dominate anything with this new power, she had to master it. Flying was a little new to her at first but she'd gotten used to it in no time. _'So this is how Pegasi feel...'_ She thought as she soared over the City, more specifically the area where she had fought Black Hand. At the moment construction was already underway with buildings being rebuilt and certain streets being closed off to the public.

"Heh. You know? I think this'll be fun.... ruling the world I mean." Sunset said to herself as she hovered a bit over the city. "I wonder what I should do next? Maybe I should make an ultimatum and demand the city be under my control?"

"Or perhaps you may stand down and try to help others?" Another voice said, their voice rather rugged but with a feminine tone.

Turning around, Sunset was greeted by a surprising sight. Before her was a unmistakably female figure with a glowing green light surrounding her. Her attire was composed of a black skin-tight suit with several green rose patterns on her shoulder, abdomen, hip, and chest area, with long green gloves, and matching heels, and three small belts strapped on each arm. Her suit even covered up her face, leaving nothing visible except for her glowing green eyes and her shoulder-length hair, equally green in color.

"Oh and who are you? A discount Halloween freak?" Sunset growled as she summoned a sword. "I don't think I like you that much."

The figure sighed as she crossed her arms. “I’m not here to fight… merely teach.” She said as she held out her right hand, showing Sunset the ring upon her middle finger. It was then that a symbol similar to the one on the ring appeared above her bust, a circle between two bars, one on the top and the bottom. “You could do much better things for this world with that ring of yours, and I can teach you…”

"How to be weak and cowardly? Spare me the 'you can be a hero' bullshit." Sunset said with a growl. "This is complete bull. The only reason people like YOU exist is because you're too scared to admit that the world's better off being ruled by someone strong.

The figure simply shook her head in disappointment. "The strong do not exploit the weak, they protect them." She stated firmly as her ring started to glow brighter. "You can be better than this..."

"You're right. I could beat you to a bloody pulp faster!" Sunset shouted as she lunged forward and tried to slash her only for the figure to dodge at the last moment.

“If that's your final answer… then I guess you'll have to learn the hard way…” She said as she grabbed her arm. “This will not be a fight, but a lesson. And I have much to teach you...”

With those words she slammed her fist into Sunset's stomach with surprising strength, sending her flying through the sky…

"Let's start with "getting your ass kicked 101"."

_'No.... no she is NOT stronger than me!'_ Sunset growled as she aimed and darted right back towards her. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?! ME?!"

“I don't think…” She said as she casually caught her fist. She then released a burst of energy, flinging her back once more. She crossed her arms in an “X” formation, summoning twin curved swords. “...I know.”

"You.... you no good... two bit...." Sunset growled as she charged and clashed sword against sword. "You're nothing compared to me! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M BETTER THAN YOU!”

Sadly, the figure uncrossed her swords and pushed her back. Her eyes glowed as she shot towards her and started spinning rapidly, creating a green tornado of blades.

_'I-it can't be! I-I'm losing?! I NEVER LOSE! I WILL NOT LOSE!'_ Sunset mentally screeched as she tried going against the green swirling tornado.

"There's still a chance for you to turn yourself around..." The figure said as she was pushed back, her blade tornado vanishing as she dispelled her swords and proceeded to summon a new weapon. "I suggest you take this opportunity before I get serious..."

"You? Get serious? Don't make me LAUGH. You're on your last leg!" Sunset roared as she aimed her dragon arm at her firing over and over.... however despite what she’d said it seemed more like _she_ was on her last leg.

Slamming her hands together she summoned what looked like a triple-bladed scythe with blades that resembled claws.Not giving her time to react she rushed forward with unexpected speed sliced through every blast fired at her.

"STOP! JUST STOP DAMMIT!" Sunset yelled as the figure grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to the ground.

"Tell me, have you learned your lesson?" The figure asked as she floated down towards her. "Or do I still have to teach you?"

"You.... w-who are you? Y-you can't be stronger than me." Sunset said.... fear now evident in her voice. "I-I'm meant to be the strongest.... h-how are you this strong?"

The figure remained silent as she landed in the crater, towering over her imposingly. She then knelled down, looking her dead in the eyes. "....Willpower." She stated, showing her her own ring. "The drive to protect, the drive to stand for what is truly right.... something you clearly lack."

"Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Sunset yelled as she spewed out napalm blood to try and burn her opponent. "I-I AM POWER! I AM SOMEONE YOU DON'T FUCK WITH!”

The figure quickly leaped back formed a shield around herself, blocking off the blood. "You just don't get it, do you? Why are you so blind to your own misguided ways?” She asked… only to tilt her head as a thought came to mind. “...or, do you feel like you have something to prove? Do you truly believe you are better than everyone else, or are you just desperate to prove that to someone else?”

“I-I.... I-I.... JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sunset shouted as she took to the skies.

"Not yet..."

In a blur of speed the figure was right in front of Sunset with her hand around her throat. "Stubborn as you are, you still have a lot of potential. However as long as you continue along this path you'll bring nothing but ruination to everything around you as well as yourself." She then hold her closer to her face, tightening her grip in case she attempted spew blood at her. "This world is not yours to rule... it's mine to protect." She then slammed her fist into her stomach, her ring blasting her across the sky the moment she let go of her throat.

"I.... I can't lose." Sunset murmured to herself as she fell to the ground like a giant sack of rocks, her pride taking a deep punch to the gut.

Her opponent could only stare at her with pity before she glanced at her ring, it's glow slowly becoming dimmer. “You could be better than what you are... but your pride will be your downfall… remember these words, the words of the Green Guardian."

And with that she flew off into the night, leaving Sunset to crawl her way out of the crater.

Sunset groaned as she got up and tried popping her back. “Wonderful. My first fight that ISN’T against undead monsters and my ass gets kicked…. Some future leader of Equestria I am.” She growled as she took to the skies and flew back to her home…. unaware that she was being watched by a certain trio.

“That… was intense...” Dagi gasped as they watched from a nearby building. “Such power, such raw unmatched power!” She shouted, a perverse grin spreading across her face. “And just imagine what we could do if we bent it to our will...”

“Yeah, but did you SEE what they were capable of?” Aria asked. “They are WAY out of our league.”

"Then that means we just have to get more power." Dagi said as she lowered her bandanna and hood. "I think it's high time we found this.... Red Warrior."

"....why?" Sonata asked innocently.

"Because she mentioned Equestria.... Meaning that they know where the portal is.... meaning we can finally go back." Dagi said with a malicious smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked this chapter! I planned on giving Sci-Twi another cameo here but decided to save her for later.
> 
> For those of you wondering about the Green Guardian, at this moment she's basically to be sort of an "unbreakable wall" for Sunset, since at this point there's not really much stopping her from outright taking over (bar the Black Lanterns themselves). Her identity will be revealed much later in the story.
> 
> Anyway, please eave a comment on what you liked and even some constructive criticism. And be sure to support the tropes page!


	4. Fearful Beginnings

Rainbow Dash sighed as she left Scootaloo's room, while she was making a steady recovery, it would be awhile before she was back on her feet again. Though she was thankful that whoever had managed to save her had gotten to her before damage to her leg was irreparable, she couldn't bear the thought of her little sister becoming an amputee.

_'But I should've been there for her.... I'm her big sister.... I'm supposed to be the one to save her...'_ Rainbow thought to herself as she sighed. She then got into her sports car and looked at Gilda. "The gang at Dust's apartment?"

"Yeah... we really need a different place to meet up though, Dust is pretty peeved that she's gotta play hostess for our meetings." Gilda explained as they left the hospital and made their way to her car. "She's already on thin ice with her uncle as it is..."

Rainbow growled at the mention of him. Wind Rider was a former Wonderbolt but seemed to think that was enough to make him a king. The stuck up bastard. "Okay. We'll choose a different location next time. Lightning can keep her panties on.”

"Really? I figured you'd want her to take them off-OW!" Gilda snarked before Rainbow elbowed her left rib.

"Oh get a grip, she's not my type, and don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking a peek every once in awhile!" Rainbow scoffed.

Gilda groaned as she got in the car drove off. "S-so Scoots still doesn't know who saved her? Fucking shame. W-we could've tried to pay them back."

"Yeah, if she ever does remember, that person has my undying gratitude and respect... and a spot in our gang any day." Rainbow smiled as she got into the passenger seat, Gilda nodded as she put on her seat-belt and hit the gas and they raced down the street....

* * *

Meanwhile at Sugar-cube Corner, Pinkie Pie had just finished washing the dishes. "All done Mrs. Cake! I'm gonna head home!" She called out as she grabbed her book-bag.

"Okay Pinkie dear. Tell your friends we said hi." Mrs. Cake said with a smile. Pinkie twitched at the mention of her former friends but hid it rather well.

“Y-Yeah I will…” She sighed before leaving the diner and making her way down the street. As the sun began to set she found her mind wandering back to the early days, back when she and the girls would hang out, back when she could still trust them…

_"But you can't now can you? Not after what they did to you..... to us."_ A voice in the back of her mind whispered to her. _"They're all just backstabbing traitors.... the whole lot of them."_

Pinkie glanced at the window of a nearby store, looking back at her was her reflection, only with a darker skin tone, her normally poofy hair now complete flat.

Shaking her head clear of all those negative thoughts, she stormed down the street. “Shut up.” She growled. “I don't have to listen to you.”

_"Oh but then you'd have to listen to others. To others telling you that it's not your friends fault that your friendship fell apart.... meaning it would be YOUR fault."_ Her other said with a dark chuckle.

"I said shut up!" She snapped as she passed another window. "We just... drifted apart. It's... it's not their fault... o-or mine..." She whispered the last part as she wiped away a tear, as she continued to walk she failed to notice a rather shady individual approaching her from behind…

_"Is that right? Aw then whose fault is it? Oh! I bet it was SUNSET'S again right? Then why not have her beaten within an inch of her life?"_ The other Pinkie snarled at her.

"B-because it's not right..." She mumbled before she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to yelp as she was brought out of her thoughts. "EEP!"

"Hey little girl, are you lost?" A gruff voice asked her. Pinkie turned around to see an adult male much taller than her, he had light skin and his grey hair in a matted down style, to the point where his eyes were covered up. He wore a dark grey shirt and had a tattoo of a bloody knife on both of his shoulders.

"No I'm not but your hair is." Pinkie said with a small chuckle as she backed away, trying to distance herself from this man.

The man however cut off her route as he got closer. "Now, now, there's no need to be rude... I'm just trying to be neighborly. After all, the streets are dangerous at this time, especially with all those beasts that have been attacking the city." He smirked as he slowly reached into his pocket. "How about you let me "escort" you home?"

However at that moment Pinkie's other self took the driver's seat. " _Or how about you fuck off before I rip your damn nuts and shove them down your FUCKING throat and make you my bitch!"_

The man almost immediately dropped his false smile and glared at Mena. "Well well, someone's got a mouth on her..." He growled as he approached her, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Didn't your parents ever tell you to watch how you address adults?"

However just then Mena grabbed his boys..... he DEFINITELY felt the pain after that. _"YOU WANNA TEST ME? HM? YOU REALLY WANNA TEST ME RIGHT FUCKING NOW!?"_ She screamed as the thug howled in pain as he grabbed her arm in an attempt to force her to release him.

_'Stop it!'_ pinky yelled from within the confines of her mind. Attempting to take back control of her body. _'I said STOP!!'_ she shouted, forcibly pushing her darker half out of the driver seat. Forcing her to let go in the process. Not waiting for a response from the man she quickly darted down the alley and in an attempt to flee.

_"What were you thinking back there Pinkie?!"_ Her other half demanded. _"I wasn't going to LITERALLY rip his balls off but it was a damn good threat!"_

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Pinkie screamed as she held her head, running through the alleyway. "I didn't ask you to come out! Whenever you come out, bad things happen!"

"YOU DAMN BITCH! GET BACK HERE!!"

She heard the thug's voice not too fat behind her, prompting her to run faster.

_"Yeah but that's because you've been in trouble! I saved your ass like I did just then!"_ Her other voice snarled. _"Let me in control one last time and drop this punk ass! I'll leave you alone for a WHOLE. WEEK. PINKIE PROMISE."_

"Last time I got a Pinkie Promise from you I got suspended for a week!" She retorted as she turned a corner and kept running...

...until she ended up in an empty parking lot in front of what looked like an abandoned restaurant. The windows were boarded up, the doors had fallen off, and the establishment had fallen into decay. She could just barely make out the sign that read "Fred... F.zb...r... Pizz...a".

"I'M GONNA FIND YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH!!"

The thug's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she ran into the restaurant, hoping to lose him...

* * *

"Yo Dash. We're here." Gilda said. Dash looked out the window and saw the apartment before her..... it wasn't the most fancy thing out there but it was better then some have gotten.

Rainbow sighed as she exited the car, glancing around to make sure no one was sneaking up towards her. In this neighborhood it was better to have eyes in the back of your head."Is it just me, or does this place feel more depressing whatever we visit?"

"That's cause of Wind Rider." Gilda snarked as they went inside the apartment. They soon arrived at room number 307 and knocked a few times before the door opened.

Standing before her was a girl with bright yellow hair and light blue skin wearing a leather jacket and denim jeans. "About time you two showed up, my uncle will be back in an hour so we gotta make this quick!" She said as she guided them inside towards the living room with the rest of the gang was waiting.

Dash smirked as she got in. "Alright boys and girls. What's on the agenda tonight huh?" She asked them as she sits down in a beanie chair near Thunderlane.

"Half of our territory is getting overrun by some assholes calling themselves the "Red Daggers", they've even started spray painting their damn logo all over the area." Thunderlane growled as he switched off his phone.

"Fucking really? We're getting taken over by newbies?" Rainbow groaned as she looked at the ceiling. "This has to be a really bad joke.... what did the damn thing look like?"

"A dagger covered in blood..." Sky Stinger stated as he wolfed down some nachos. "From what I've heard they have the tattoos of it on both of their shoulders... they specially like targeting young women in the evening when they're alone..."

"Well I fucking hate them already. Anyone from that group deserves to get a bullet in their brain and a metal crowbar to the spine." Gilda said as she downed a whole soda, Lightning's uncle REALLY hated beer so they couldn't run the risk... this time.

"Well there's another thing I've been meaning to bring up..." Sky sighed as he stood up. "That being we need more members if we're gonna take these guys out. Trust me, going up against them now, we'd be hopelessly outnumbered."

"They're really that tough?" Rainbow as she scratched her head. "Well shit. Yeah we're gonna need some back up. Course that might be hard cause of what fucking Sunset did." And just like that the room became just a few degrees colder.

"Can we not mention HER right now?" Thunderlane scoffed, pay the bowl to Gilda. "Cloud Kicker is still reassuring her parents all those rumors aren't true."

Gilda arched a brow. "But what about her relationship with-"

"So what? You a homophobe?" Thunder snarled as he glares at her. "If it is true there ain't nothin' wrong with it."

"That's not what she was sayin' Thunder." Rainbow said as she shot Gilda a quick glance as she scratched the back of her head. "Right, G?"

"Yeah, jeez. Sorry about that." Gilda groaned in embarrassment.

"Speaking of Cloudy however...." Thunderlane began, hesitating for a moment. "....she wants in."

Everyone's reactions varied, Rainbow Dash and Gilda looked uncertain, Lightning's eye started to twitch, and Sky simply started snickering. "Oooooh..... that's a tough call." Rainbow said as she looked thoughtful, one of the very few times she looked... conflicted on something before.

"Do we have to? I mean I don't really care about what she does with her lifestyle..." Lightning groaned as she sat back down, massaging her temples. "But for Gods sake every word out of her mouth is an innuendo, and then there's those numerous time she's tried to flirt with me..."

Sky couldn't stop snickering. "Oh yeah we all remember that! I've never seen your face turn so red!"

"SHUT UP SKY!" Lightning shouted as she threw a pillow. However she then quickly checked her watch. "Fuck. You guys got five minutes. And that's just him getting here. You have to go."

"I make no promises on something like that Dust." Rainbow said sincerely. "You just gotta be ready."

* * *

Pinkie Pie shivered in terror as she hid inside one of the rooms. "I just have to stay hidden, just stay hidden and he won't find me..." She mentally whispered to herself.

"Where are you slut?!" The thug shouted as he marched around the place. "Come out right now and try to act tough again! I fucking dare you!"

"Must stay hidden, must stay hidden....." She whispered as she hid behind one of the old animatronics;an old rusty Bear. She glanced at a shard of of the broken glass on the floor and saw her other half staring at her through the reflection

_"We're really fucking dead if you don't let me take control right fucking now."_ Mena snarled at her. _"You know for a FACT that I'm telling the truth."_

"All right doll, listen here..." She heard the thug call out to her, his tone disturbingly calm. "While you were running I called some of my gang members. They'll be here in roughly twenty minutes so here's the deal: you show yourself, and when they get here I'll convince them to be _"gentle"_ with you...." He said with a dark chuckle.

_"Listen to him! I know you don't trust me that much but if he lives? THEN HE'LL PROBABLY GO AFTER MAUD OR LIMESTONE NEXT! OR WORSE, MARBLE!"_

Pinkie's eyes widened as she imagined such a scenario, her baby sister all alone and helpless, at the mercy of this violent brute and his friends....

Picking up the glass shard, she stared at her other self with an almost lifeless expression on her face. "....please... just make it end..."

At that command Pinkie's other side gleefully hopped into her body and took complete control. She chuckled evilly as her hair went flat and she began hunting for a way to finish the bastard off for good...

* * *

"This is your last warning you little bitch!" The thug shouted as he started searching the kitchen area. "Either come out right now or I promise you me and the boys will have you screaming for mercy!"

_"Funny. I was gonna make you beg for mercy myself."_ Mena said with a dark chuckle. _"I mean after all I made you beg like a little bitch before. Why not try it again?"_

The thug growled as he turned to see his target standing in the doorway, her hair now matted and a dimmer color. "Aw, so the little girl finally comes out to play." He smirked as he pulled out a knife. "Now are you gonna behave, or do I have to get rough?"

Mena simply held up a shard of glass. _"By the end of this, you'll be the one at my feet begging for mercy."_

* * *

Meanwhile across town two figures were meeting. One was the Green Guardian but the other merely was hidden behind shadows however the outline was clearly male. "So.... no offense but why did you ask me out here?"

"Well... I require a favor involving this..." The Guardian said as she floated down towards the figure, showing him her ring. "You're the only one I can trust with this at the moment..."

"Is that right? Well I'm glad to help with whatever you need.... within reason though." The figure said as he rubbed the back of his head rather... embarrassed like.

"But of course." She sighed placed her hand on his shoulder. "You should know that I wouldn't bring you into this without a good reason... especially with everything you've gone through..."

"No it's.... it's fine." The figure said as he gently brushed her hand off. "Um.... so really what do you need? Haven't really said that part yet."

".....I need you to keep an eye on Sunset Shimmer." She stated, upon seeing the figure tense up she quickly continued. "I understand you have a... history with her, but she's becoming more unstable... and I need someone to watch over her when I cannot, someone who won't arise suspicion..."

"Please. Like I'd actually care what happens to her. If you actually knew what happened between us you would feel the same way I feel." The figure said. "She's nothing but a self centered spoiled brat. She's probably that red raging vigilante they mention on the news."

The Guardian blinked at this. "How...? W-When did you-"

"You just told me." The figure smirked.

The Guardian's eye twitched as she glared at him. "Cute, but she needs to be watched. Her power is immense... and destructive." She explained.

"Then why aren't you stopping her? Face it. Some people CAN'T be redeemed. They're just horrible people! And she's NO DIFFERENT!” The figure replied with a snarl.

The Guardian sighed as she took his hand. "Believe me, I considered taking her ring right then and there... but her ring, it's unique..." She explained as she drew him closer. "The ring was linked directly to her heart, if I had removed it she would have died immediately."

"........" The figure felt like he wanted to say something but words failed to come to him. "I... I didn't..... well would it-"

"Yes. It would. Loss of life, no matter how vile, is still tragic. Any who support it....." Guardian wanted to say more but inside she felt some guilt bubbling up. "Beside the point anyways. Can I trust you to watch over her?"

The figure looked down in sorrow. "I... I'll try..." He sighed. "I still don't trust her, but I'll watch her..."

The Guardian smiled behind her mask. "I'm proud of yo-" She was cut off when her ring started flashing.

_ 'Warning: Large Amounts of Fear Detected' _

Before she could retort, a bright yellow light shot down from the sky... and right down into the city. The Guardian scowled as she took to the air and summoned her own Power Battery.

"In brightest day, in darkest night,  
All evil falls before my might,  
To all who dare oppose what's right,  
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!"

As the power flowed into her body, she glanced down at the figure for a moment. "I'm counting on you." She said before taking off.

As she flew off, the figure looked down at his hand... and sighed as he stared at the Green Ring in the palm of his hand…

* * *

In the mountain range not too far from the city, Sunset slammed her fist into a rock wall in rage. "Un-FUCKING-believable! Who does that arrogant bitch think she is!?" She screamed, letting loose a volley of energy blasts at the wall, reducing it to rubble.

"That no good...... GAH!" Sunset roared as she destroyed yet another wall near her. "She thinks she can lecture me?! ME?! I'M SUNSET! NOBODY FUCKING LECTURES ME!"

Before she could turn her attention to the rest of the forest, she noticed the same streak of yellow light flying towards the city. 'What the... another Ring?" She blinked before looking down at her own ring before smirking. "Well then, looks like I'll be getting a new power boost! And soon you'll be under MY boot, Guardian!!"

And with that proclamation she took off towards the cit, fully intent on taking this new power as her own...

* * *

"Now then. Tell me what we learned.... oh right you can't. You're in too much pain." Mena chuckled as the thug at her feet was nothing more then a whimpering mess, covered in several cuts and gashes. His legs having been badly damaged.

"P-please d-don't kill me. I-I swear I'll leave you alone! I swear! Please!" He begged Mena, who casually seemed to consider his offer.

".....eh, murder doesn't suit me anyway. I think I'll leave you hear for the cops... but if you EVER try this again? Your little boys are mine to mount on a WALL and-"

_ 'Fear detected.' _

However as she said this, a bright yellow light seemed burst through the ceiling and shot towards Mena before latching itself onto her finger.

"...what the f-GAAAHH!!!" Mena screamed as she felt a powerful torrent of energy shoot through her body. Lightning crackling around her body as she was engulfed in a pillar of light.

_ 'Pinkamena Diane Pie of Earth. You have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.' _

As the light died down, Mena found herself floating in place, wearing a new outfit: A sleeveless dress with the ring's icon over her chest area, an odd-looking black corset, long black wings that acted as a cape and a cowl, long black gloves with the right one having sharp glowing claws, a black spiral pattern around the elbows and the ring's icon on the back of the hands, a deep yellow belt, and black boots with yellow soles. She also wore a tall striped yellow and black witch hat with the ring's icon in the middle.

_"Your greatest fears shall fuel my drive,  
To slaughter all that are alive,  
Behold the terror of my might,  
I'm fear incarnate, flee from my light!"_

As the thus stared in horror at the spectacle before him, she turned her attention to him, causing him to freeze in terror. _"Y'know, I was considering sparing you and leaving you for the cops... but it'd just be more fun to kill you!!"_ She cackled madly as she lunged forward and grabbed him by the neck and bringing him a hairs breath away from her face, her malicious smile now unnaturally wide. _"You're gonna die alone, afraid, and begging for mercy... the same mercy that you were planning to give to me!"_

"No! Wait! Please!" The thug pleaded in vain as his captor's claws extended. "No, no, NOOOOOO!!!"

* * *

Outside, screams of terror could be heard from inside the abandoned restaurant before being drowned out by a maniacal laughter....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, whosaw this coming?
> 
> No one? Good.


	5. Unlikely Allies

Sunset flew across the night sky, using her ring to zero in on the new rings landing site. She had no idea where these weird devices kept coming from, but one thing was for sure; the more she got her hands on, the better her chances of securing control over this world became. _'....as well as my chances of putting down that arrogant Green Guardian.'_ She thought to herself as she got closer to her destination.

She soon heard gunshots being fired as well as strange roars like children screaming along with some high pitched screams.... which could come from little girls or teenaged boys who didn't hit puberty just yet.

She hovered over one of the buildings and looked around, eventually pinpointing the source of the noise. Turning around and looking downward she saw what looked like an abandoned restaurant with at least two cars parked outside, and inside the restaurant was a glowing yellow light, the very source of the energy signature she picked up. "Oh for the love of-please don't tell me someone already got to it!"

"It would appear that way." A familiar voice said. Sunset froze and slowly turned around. When did she show up?! She wasn't there a second or so ago!

"And just what the hell do you think you're going to do to whoever got that ring? Talk them to death?" Sunset asked sarcastically.

"And what was your plan exactly? Beat them until they stop breathing?" The Green Guardian asked sarcastically as she approached her. "And make no mistake, I do plan to fight if it's necessary. But I'd rather try the peaceful option first. After all, I gave you the same luxury didn't I? It's not my fault you failed to take my advice."

Sunset growled at the jab before turning away. "Let's just get this over with." She groaned as they flew towards the restaurant. The screams becoming more animalistic the closer they got....

* * *

As they entered the restaurant, they heard a terrified shriek as a skinny man with a mohawk ran out of the kitchen area covered in bruises and cuts. "PLEASE, YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME! SHE'S INSA-AGGHH!!!" He screamed as a whip wrapped around his neck and yanked him into the shadows. The Green Guardian acted immediately and summon a lasso, quickly grabbing onto his foot just as he was dragged off... only for a blade of energy to shoot out of the wall and slice through her rope, leaving the thug to be dragged away at the mercy of his captor.

"....well, that shit escalated quickly." Sunset said as they heard the sound of flesh being ripped from bone and what could only be described as something popping a human head like it was a zit. "That escalated REALLY damn fast."

“Don't try to help or anything!” Guardian snapped back at her, her armor glowing as she got ready to battle.

To their surprise, [an odd jingle started playing…](https://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?https://youtu.be/hf31e8n3dWs) and all around them they could hear the whirring and creaking of old machinery that haven't been used in years...

_“[Welcome home, girls and boys….](https://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?https://youtu.be/ehh9i7ZImYY?t=51s)”_ A voice sang as the sounds of whirring machinery got louder. _“Time to play with brand new toys….”_ The singing continued as the two of them quickly shined their lights around the empty room, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. _“Nightmares lurk inside your mind…”_ The Voice continued as the whirring got louder. _“Now there is no place to hide…”_

"Okay.... this is getting REALLY disturbing..." The Guardian said as she aimed her ring towards one of the hallways. "Look... whoever you are, we're not your enemies…”

"Speak for yourself...." Sunset mumbled angrily.

"Hush you." The Guardian whispered as she continued to speak. "Listen, getting a ring with that kind of power can be overwhelming, believe me I know. But we can help you..."

The Voice giggled in response. _“Who says I even want help? I'm perfectly fine the way I am!”_

"Welp. You heard her." Sunset said as she summoned up an ax. "Time to give the bitch her final farewell card!"

_“Oh? The big bad dragon wants to go a few rounds?”_ The voice asked sarcastically. _“Well… if you want to get to me, you'll have to go through a few of my friends first!”_

“Wait, there are more-” Sunset began, but stops when she heard the familiar whirring and creaking of old machines again.

Suddenly, four figures emerged from the darkness, surrounding them in a box formation, each one and animatronic based on some animal, each one bearing a glowing yellow symbol on the center of their chests.

Behind them was bright yellow chicken with an orange beak with several rows of sharp teeth, and wore a white bib that reads "LET'S EAT!!!".

To their left was a purple rabbit with magenta eyes and a squarish muzzle.

To their right was a fox with crimson, tattered fur, a hook for his right hand, and wore an eyepatch over its right eye.

And the final one in front of them was a brown bear wearing a black top hat, black bow tie.

_“Now that the gang's all here… LET'S PLAY!”_

"Oh I am NOT in the mood for any of this!" Sunset roared as she charged the animatronics... only for the Fox to knock her aside into the bunny who put her in a full nelson.

"Oh no you don't!" The Guardian shouted as she quickly summoned twin Katana blades and attempted to strike the two, only for the chicken and bear to blast her from behind, sending her crashing through one of the walls.

_"That was just so adorable!"_ The voice chuckled as the fox slammed its fist into Sunset's stomach. _"You're both so much fun I can't believe I didn't think to find you sooner!"_ She laugh as Sunset coughed.

"I'm not some-Offf-source of amusement for you!" Sunset grunted as the fox slammed its fist into her stomach once more, not willing to give her enemy the satisfaction of her pain, she immediately let out a burst of red energy, sending both animatronics flying.

_"NOOOO! FOXY! BONNIE! THEY WERE THE HARDEST TO FIX YOU BIG JERKY MEANIE!"_ The voice screamed, and to Sunset's surprise it really did sound heart broken. _"T-THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WROOOONG! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"_

“Well, maybe if you'd played nice I wouldn't have had to break all your toys!” She snapped back as she summoned a curved blade from her dragon arm, in her free hand she summoned red whip crackling with crimson lightning.

* * *

While Sunset was busy dealing with her own opponents, the Guardian wasted no time distancing herself from her pursuers before blasting a hole in the wall and flying outside, fighting them in such an enclosed space was just asking for them to overwhelm her. _“Aw, don't run away! Freddy and Chica just want to play!”_ The voice giggled as the bear and chicken charged after her an alarming speed, both of them screeching as they fired beams from both their hands and mouths.

'And people wonder why this place was shut down... these creepy animatronics are pure nightmare fuel!' She thought as she sliced through the lasers using her Katanas. Freddy then roared as he charged forth in an attempt to grab her.... only to accidentally grope her breasts and temporarily get hearts for eyes.

The Guardian's left eye twitched under her mask. “FUCKING PERVERT!!” She screamed as she immediately kicked him in the jaw, nearly taking his head off. "Damn thing.... I always hated that one." She said, only for Chica to lunge at her with her claws outstretched, the guardian attempted to counter with her katanas, however at that moment she felt a lapse in power as she collided with her opponent, much to her surprise Chica shattered the Katanas upon contact before tackling her to the ground.

_“Aw, don't be such a prude! Unlike that Dragon lady you're actually pleasant to look at”_ The voice seductively called out from the speakers as she struggled to push Chica off of her. _“I mean, that skin-tight outfit is just begging to be torn off!”_ She cackled as Freddy readjusted his head.

".... how old ARE you?!" The Guardian asked, the voice REALLY sounded like a little girl's. "I'm very concerned you actually have no idea what you're doing."

_“.....are you calling me a child!?”_ The voice retorted in a surprisingly angry yet menacing tone. Suddenly the aura surrounding the puppets became a lot more intense as the symbols on their chests glowed. Their features became more feral, their teeth started to extend and become sharper, and their exterior appearance became a lot more decrepit….

"I might be saying that but only because it's true!" Guardian yelled as she tried fighting back, releasing a small burst of energy that pushed Chica off of her. "Only because you're just acting like one!"

_"Oh and I suppose YOU are so clean aren't you?"_ A horrifyingly familiar voice asked Guardian.

The Guardian froze for a moment, giving her opponent a split second opportunity as it grabbed her by the neck and hurled her through a wall, sending her flying back into the restaurant. As she got up she briefly attempted to conjure up a shield... only for the ring to suddenly short out. "W-what's going on?!" She whispered as she attempted to focus. "Why can't I-HURK!"

Sadly before she could recover properly she was slugged across the face by Freddy and sent flying right into a spinning kick from Chica. _"Awww, what's wrong?! Out of batteries!?"_ The Voice taunted with statistic glee as Freddy, yanked her by her hair before several yellow wires erupted from his body, wrapping themselves around her. As she looked up she saw Chica approaching her, and the closer it got the wider its beak became, slowly unhinging to the point where it's head had been pushed back as if it was just a helmet... revealing a face beneath she never thought she'd seen again...

"No.... no you.... you're dead... I-I saw-" The Guardian started before Freddy began stuffing her into his gullet, trying to crush every bone inside her body with the wires inside him.

"ENOUGH!!" A familiar voice roared, literally seconds before Freddy could bite down on his prey, Bonnie crashed through the wall and straight into Freddy, knocking the Guardian loose.

"W-W-What t-took you s-s-o long?" The Guardian asked, her voice rather shaky as she stood up, the image of her greatest fear still fresh within her mind.

Sunset merely shot her death glare. "These things might be a bit tougher than I expected was all. That's it." Sunset sneered as she blasted Chica out the boarded-up window. "What took you so long to break free?"

"W-Whoever this is... her ring is nothing like ours..." The Guardian shivered as Bonnie and Freddy slowly pulled themselves back together. "My ring runs on Willpower, yours undeniably runs on pure Rage... but this ring..."

_"AH-AH-AHHH! NO SPILLING SECRETS!"_ The Voice called out as Foxy lunged out of the hole in the wall and tackled Sunset into the next room.

"Secrets?! I already assumed your ring ran on fear!" Sunset yelled as she tried bashing Foxy's head in with both fists. "You're HORRIBLE at keeping secrets you moron!"

_“Says you, I'll have you know I'm good at keeping plenty of secrets!”_ The voice retorted fiercely. _“After all, I highly doubt you even know who I am!”_

At this however, Sunset replied with a mocking laugh. “What's there to know?! You're just some weirdo who got a lucky break and snatch the ring before I can get to it!” From behind her Chica flew back in through the broken window and attempted to bum rush her, only for Sunset to swiftly turn around and impale it through the head with her blade. “And the fact that this is the best you can come up with his downright pathetic!”

_"T-they're not pathetic! They're charming in their own special ways and they don't like it when people are picking on me!"_ The voice shouted as the animatronics started growling at her and growing a bit larger. _"And you.... you're being really mean right now!"_

_'Looks like I touched a nerve...'_ Sunset smirked under her mask.

* * *

Back in the main room, the Guardian continued her battle against the two animatronics, having conjured up a massive dome-shaped shield to prevent them from getting too close. However she could hear the argument in the next room and immediately realized what Sunset was doing.

_'_ Oh no! Sunset for the love of God don't provoke her!’ She thought as she saw her opponents growing more feral by the second. As they relentlessly pounded on her shield small cracks started to form along the surface, the Guardian immediately attempted to pour more power into it, however her ring started to fizzle out yet again.

[Warning: Ring Power at 32%]

'Oh great…’

* * *

"Oh I'm not making fun of you, you do a better job making yourself look like an idiot!" Sunset continued as she yanked her blade out of Chica's skull before slicing Foxy's head off. "I mean seriously? These stupid puppets were the best you could come up with?! How childish can you get?!"

_"........WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"_ The voice yelled as the animatronics started repairing themselves. _"I'M CHILDISH?! I'M THE ONE THAT'S CHILDISH?! BECAUSE I'M NOT THE ONE WHO LOOKS LIKE AN EDGELORD?!"_

“Oh? You're trying to shame me? That's just adorable!” Sunset scoffed as she enveloped her armor in a fiery aura. “At least I'm capable of doing my fighting up-close-and-personal! You need to send your pathetic puppets to do your dirty work!” As she continued her rant she held up her free hand and conjured up a spiked ball. “You could create a literally anything you want with the powers of this ring, and yet you waste it on these oversized toys! Face it, you're nothing but an immature child and that power is wasted on someone like you! You're better off just handing it over to me!”

It was like a knife was slashed through her mind. The person controlling the animatronics.... remembered a similar phrase…. from someone she absolutely loathed and despised….

* * *

_She remembered being in a fetal position.... crying her eyes out…_

_"What a total mess. You were left in charge of this these stupid decorations were the best you could come up with?! How childish can you get?!”_

_She remembered HER standing over her with a mocking smirk on their face, holding some of her destroyed decorations that she herself worked TWO WEEKS on.... and just ruining it in two minutes._

_“Pfft, face it, you're nothing but an immature child who everyone wastes their attention on! If no wonder your so-called “friends” abandoned to you! You're better off just being alone and forgotten!”_

* * *

Sunset smirked when the voice went silent, thinking she'd won their little argument, but the...

_“You…."_ The voice whispered in a menacingly low tone. _"You're just like… just like HER…”_

"Uh...... just like who?" She asked before Foxy could pin her against a wall and roared in her face.... although it switched into a more deep throated roar.

_“YOU’RE JUST LIKE THAT BULLY WHO DOESN'T CARE FOR ANYONE BUT HERSELF!"_ The voice shouted at her as Foxy became taller, his fur turned a bloody crimson, and his “skin” became more withered with the material above his eyes a muzzle completely rotting away, revealing parts of the endoskeleton beneath, and his became much sharper. _"ALL SHE CARES FOR IS IF SHE CAN LOOK GOOD WHILE HURTING PEOPLE! AND YOU'RE JUST. LIKE. HER!!!"_

Sunset felt an overwhelming emotion.... one that she never thought she'd feel ever again.... the feeling of fear. It wasn't just Foxy either. It was the other animatronics.... no.... it was this place. It was the place she was in. It was radiating PURE unadulterated fear.

Foxy let out another feral roar, and a bright light erupted from its mouth, completely eclipsing Sunsets vision…

* * *

_She felt.... she felt herself regressing.... she felt her body becoming young until she was but a foal.... a foal who could do nothing. She tried calling someone.... anyone..... but nobody came._

_At first she wanted to give up but then she.... she saw her parents! Her equine parents!_

_“M-Mommy? D-Daddy?” She gasped weakly, struggling to her hooves and running towards them. A small glimmer of hope in her eyes.... but as they turned around to face her… they_ **sneered** _at her. They never said a word but.... she could feel it.... the feeling of disappointment. ".... no.... no no no! Not again!" She yelled as she tried to run another way.... only to run into Celestia._

“Well well well, if it isn't my so-called faithful student…” _She scoffed, giving her dark glare before turning her back on her._ “To think I actually thought you would ever amount to anything… but instead you're nothing but a disappointment…”  
  
 _“GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT REAL! YOU'RE NOT REAL!" She yelled as she tried using her ring to fly away... only for the Guardian to appear before her and trap her in a green energy bubble.... before she could react she was whisked away, the Guardian flying straight up past the clouds… through the atmosphere… and finally stopping, the two hovered just above the world...._

_…the world she had every right to rule!_  
  
“Look at it, an entire world of magicless beings and you still fail to conquer them…” _She stated as several ropes of energy erupted from the sides of the bubble, each one wrapping around one of her hooves and rooting her to the spot._ “Even with the power to rival that of Celestia herself, you still fail to measure up… face it Sunset Shimmer, you failed once again…”

“Just as you failed to live up to our expectations…” _Sunset turned around to see her parents floating above her._ “Just like how you failed to surpass your own brother…”

_"N-no.... I-I'm not a failure." Sunset said but it was rather cowardly.... not at all her normal confidence but that was the least of her worries.... in her heart her fear began being replaced by an even worse feeling.... a feeling of doubt. Her ring began dimming.... losing it's former luster. "I-I'm not a failure."_

_However, as the the three began to circle her, an emerald light immediately shined from above them several beams of energy shot out towards her tormentors, slicing through her parents and the Guardian and disintegrating them in one shot before they had a chance to scream._

_As the bubble around her disintegrated into nothingness, she felt her strength and her resolve returning... and saw a familiar figure slowly emerging from the light..._

'Sunset...'

* * *

"....Sunset, wake up!" She heard the Guardian call out to her as the illusionary world around her vanished.

As she did she also saw Foxy was missing a head on his shoulders. "Wh-what..... .where.... where did-"

"He wasn't letting go so I decided to be... _persuasive_." The Guardian said as she helped Sunset get back up on her feet. "Look... I know you don't like me but we're not going to win if we fight alone. We need to work together."

Sunset was tempted to simply say she can handle it herself, but then memory of that feeling of helplessness was still fresh in her mind. As much as he hated to admit it, she'd rather not go through something like that again. "Fine, temporary truce." She sighed as her ring crackled with energy. "We kick that weirdos ass, then it's back to business."

The Guardian nodded as Freddie leaped on her and started trying bear-hugging her again only for Sunset to grab his head and ripped it straight off his body causing it to fall apart.

_"THEY'RE NOT STUPID! THEY'RE CHILD FRIENDLY AND THEY'RE SUPER NICE! THEY JUST DON'T LIKE JERKS AND PEOPLE WHO HELP JERKS!"_ The voice yelled... and the Guardian heard a hint of.... had she been crying since Sunset got back to her feet?

“You're seriously calling these abominations “child-friendly”?!” Sunset scoffed as she cracked her neck. “This place is like Chuck-E-Cheese who was run by Freddy-fucking-Kruger-MMMPH!” She tried to continue but her mouth was covered up by a green X, courtesy of the Guardian.

“Stop provoking her!” She snapped.

Suddenly several wisps of yellow energy flowed into Freddy's body as the the rest of the animatronics slumped over, like puppets that had suddenly gotten their strings cut. Then Freddy got up, now surrounded by a yellow aura and more extensively tattered than before. He became taller as the energy altered his appearance, to the point where his head almost touched the ceiling. His hat was torn with a few wires exposed through tears in various parts of his body, with large parts of his endoskeleton in visible as well, especially through the upper torso and the lower legs.

_“YOU. WILL. DIIIIIEEEEE!!!”_

“....okay, I think she had a bad childhood." Sunset said as Freddy screamed at them with an inhuman roar.

"Look. I don't know about you but this... this color has been draining my power since we started this fight.... can you distract him while I power up?" Guardian asked.

"Oh wow. Our 'team-up' consists of me defending you. Such a good case of 'teamwork'." Sunset snarked.

"I'm sorry, do you want this nightmare to end or not!?" The Guardian asked in an irritated tone. "I just need a few minutes, and then I think I can charge up enough power to end this thing for good, and then we can go for its master!"

Sunset rolled her eyes, but then proceeded to spread her wings as she summoned a crimson blade from her dragon arm. "I swear if I lose any body parts during this fight... I'm removing yours as as compensation!" She shouted as she immediately flew towards the beast.

"Okay.... I can do this. I can do this." She whispered to herself as she took a deep breath and summoned her power battery. "In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night...."

* * *

"OVER HERE ASSHOLE!!" Sunset shouted as she flew circles around the beast, repeatedly taking shots at any weak points she could spot and then distancing herself before it had a chance to strike back. "Oh come on! My brother can land a better hit then you!" She yelled at it as she dodged yet another blast. "You can't hit the broadside of the Apple farm!" She yelled at them... just before it grabbed her and roared in her face.

_“WAKA-WAKA, WHORE!”_ The Voice screamed as a massive beam of energy erupted it from its throat, blasting her through several walls.

“Ok… as painful as this is *coughcough* this is good…. “ She coughed as she picked herself up. “I’ve just got to keep her away from Miss-Guardian over there-”

Sadly the thoughts were cut off as Freddy burst through the hole in the wall end tackled her to the ground. _“PAPA BEAR SAYS THIS BITCH IS TOO CONSCIOUS!”_ The voice screamed as Freddy began slamming her head into the ground, causing cracks to appear on her helmet.

".... okay..... maybe she could hurry the hell up to. That works to." Sunset groaned as she tried standing on her feet again. "Damn that hurt." And just then she got another punch.

_"THE BEAR NECESSITIES WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO BE ACQUAINTED WITH THE GROUND!"_ The voice yelled again as Freddy punched her across the face.... and suddenly in Sunset's head it clicked.... the childish acting out..... the way she was overprotective of the animatronics like they were her toys.... the pointless references....

It was Pinkie Pie.

_‘Oh HELL no! I have not going to get my ass kicked by that idiot party animal!’_ She thought to herself as she caught the next fist with her dragon arm. “I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!” She screamed before slugging Freddy across the face, not giving it a chance to recover, she once again summoned a blade from her dragon arm and flew forward, stabbing her opponent in the chest, then proceeded to punch him off the blade and into the wall. Letting out of roar of anger she summoned a construct that resembled a demonic bull and sent it charging towards him, impaling him on its horns and sending him crashing through another wall. Just as construct vanished Sunset flew above him and proceeded to vomit a torrent of napalm blood all over him.

However the Freddy construct wasn't having it. One of his claws reached up and grabbed her around the neck and slammed her into the ground again, cracking the mask some more. _'ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! I LAID INTO HER WITH SOME HEAVY FIREPOWER! HOW IS IT NOT DAMAGED YET?!'_ She growled to herself.

“...Green Lantern's Light!!” The Guardian shouted as a powerful beam of energy struck Freddy square in the chest, loosening his grip on Sunset.

“What the hell… took you?” Sunset grumbled that she caught her breath.

“And here I thought you said you didn't need help…” The Guardian said in a mocking tone, which Sunset merely scoffed at as she turned her attention back to the bear as it slowly got up. Glaring at its two adversaries, it let up one final feral roar and begin charging at them, fully intent on ripping them to shreds.

_“BARE NECESSITIES!! YOUR ASSES ARE MY RECIPES!! THE SIMPLE BEAR NECESSITIES OF DEATH!!!”_

“Yeah… no.” The Guardian bluntly replied as she slammed a hammer until its head the moment it got close enough, then just as it tried to pick itself up she summoned two train coaches on both the left and right sides of the beast and proceeded to crush him between the two, and then finally she summoned a swarm of fighter jets that aimed and fired their missiles upon Freddy, obliterating him in one final shot.

The nightmarish animatronic let out one final screech as it was blasted to pieces, the yellow aura completely leaving its body. "I pray that was the last one...." The Guardian mumbled as she lowered her hand. "I'd rather not have to deal with any more abominations like that..."

_'Just wait till you have to deal with the zombies...'_ Sunset thought to herself.

_"IT'S NOT OVER YET!"_ Mena snarled, getting both of their attention as she floated out of the hole in the wall. _"You.... you both think you're SOOOO special don't you?! That you're SOOOO tough?! I'M THE QUEEN OF FEAR AROUND HERE! I'M THE ONE WHO MAKES THE RULES!"_

“P… Pinkie Pie!? What happened to you!?” The Guardian stammered in surprise. ‘Why?! Why would a ring like this choose her of people?!’

“You look like the Wicked Witch of the insane asylum.” Sunset smirked as she took a step forward. “So listen little Miss Nutjob, let's make this easy, you fork over that ring, and I don't blast you into the next city ten miles from here!”

_"YOU!"_ Mena snapped at Sunset. _"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DID THIS! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THE PAIN YOU CAUSED ME!"_

"Oh, so I blew up a few of your toys! Boo-fucking-hoo!" Sunset retorted. "Let me play you a song on the world's smallest violin-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!" The Guardian shouted, getting between Sunset and Mena with her armor glowing. "Pinkie, please... I don't know could have possibly happened that resulted in this power being forced upon you... but please, let us-" She glanced back at Sunset for a second. "-let ME help you..."

"Oh please. A crazy girl like that doesn't change in an instant!" Sunset snapped at her. "You think just some honeyed words are enough to just make her stop dumb ass?!"

_"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A DUMBASS!?"_ Mena shouted, her aura flaring up. The claws on her right glove extending as she took a step forward, causing the Guardian to flinch. "YOU HAD TO GET YOUR ASS SAVED BY GREEN GIRL OVER THERE!!"

"And so did you! Because she has some delusion that you can be saved or some shit like that!" Sunset yelled back before glaring back at the Guardian. "So you think it was smart to save her now dumbass?!"

The Guardian massaged her temples, trying her hardest not to lose it right then and there. "At least I'm trying to find a peaceful solution! You on the other hand can't seem to shut up for five seconds and keep antagonizing her!" And you!" She continued, turning her attention to Mena. "What do you think you'll get out of this?! Slaughtering random people!? What happened the the girl who went out of her way to put a smile on everyone's face!?"

Mena's face softened a bit, as if considering what she was saying... but she immediately shook her head angrily. _“She was nothing but a weak immature child needed to grow up! I’m what she needs to be! What she has to be if she wants to survive in this world! Now how about you shut your mouth and let me kill the red bitch!"_ She sneered as she summoned gauntlet and rushed towards Sunset....... only to abruptly stop in her tracks and punch herself in the face. _"W-what the.... when did she-AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"_ At that moment, Mena held her head and started screaming and anguish has a part of her uniform seemingly ripped itself away from her, twisting and distorting itself into the upper-half of a humanoid figure, said figure resembled Pinkie as she normally was, poofy hair and all.

**"Get out, get out, get out! You've been in the driver's seat for far too long!!"** Pinkie screamed as she grabbed Mena from behind.

_"NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"_ Mena shouted as she glared at the two. _"THIS ISN'T OVER! YOU HEAR ME?! THIS ISN'T OVER YET!!"_

"Actually I think it IS over." The Guardian said with a glare as she summoned a metallic clamp and grabbed onto the yellow ring, attempting to pull it off her.

Sunset on the other hand was completely baffled by by the spectacle taking place before her. _'Just how messed up in the head IS this girl!?'_

_"NO! I CAN'T LOSE THIS POWER!!”_ Mena snapped in fury as she use the remainder of her power to summon a large cobra construct from her left hand, commanding it to lunge at the Guardian who, despite Pinkie's assistance, was putting in all of her energy to pull off the ring. _“I WILL NOT LANGUISH IN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS FOR ANOTHER LIFETIME! I WILL LIVE THROUGH YOU!!"_

Acting on instinct, Sunset flew forth and sliced through the constructs with her blade. This action gave Pinkie enough time to take firm hold of Mema's hand, holding it in place as the Guardian pulled the ring off her finger. The second the ring came off, Mena could only scream in agony all of the energy left her, wafting off her body like wisps of smoke, as the construct of Pinkie herself slowly faded away, she turned to the two ring wielders with a sad smile.

** "Thank you....." **

As the energy returned to the ring, the Guardian encased the ring in a protective bubble and quickly caught Pinkie's unconscious body as she fell to the ground.

"Tch. Well that was rather easy." Sunset said with a smirk as she made her way towards the Guardian with her hand outstretched. "Now if you'll play it smart and hand over the ring this whole thing can finally be over…. for now at least."

".... are you kidding me? After EVERYTHING we just saw and went through, you honestly think you're worthy for both the Yellow AND Red Rings?!" The Guardian snapped at her as she stood up with Pinkie in her arms.

"More worthy than you can ever hope to be-what the!?" Sunset began, but was cut off when the ring let loose a powerful spiked shield that shredded through the Guardian's protective bubble.

_ [Fear Detected] _

Before either of them to make a move to grab it, the ring shot up right through the ceiling and into the night sky....

Sunset's left eye twitched under her mask. "Are you kidding me?! All of that drama risking my life... and it amounted to nothing!?" She shouted in irritation as she turned away and stormed off. "This was just a gigantic waste of my time!"

"Why...?" The Guardian asked, causing Sunset to stop in her tracks. "Why is power all that matters to you?"

"Because that's all ANYONE cares about!" She snapped at her. "That's all ANYONE respects and the only idiots who disagree think it's for truth and justice or some bullshit like that!"

“Those who disagree know that it's better to fight for someone other than yourself.” The Guardian stated firmly. “To fight for something other than simply power for power's sake.”

"Oh don't tell me you don't honestly believe that bullshit?" Sunset sneered at her. "After all the shit you've seen? You actually believe that whole bullshit? You sound just like my senile old mentor anyways. I'm out of here!"

"Believe what you want..." The Guardian said as she rose through the hole in the roof with Pinkie still in her arms. "...but remember that it's that kind of mindset that helped me beat you."

And with those words she took off into the city, leaving Sunset behind...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where did the ring go? Who will it seek out next? Only time will tell...


	6. For Science!!

In a more suburban part of the city, a young girl made her way into the basement of her home. Over time she had converted it into her own personal lab, crammed full of computers, books, circuit boards, and a few desks with tons equipment piled on top. However above one of the desks was a bulletin board covered in notes, strip charts, and several strings pinned in various places on an areal map of the city.

In front of the bulletin board stood a young lavender-skinned girl, she wore a lab coat with a violet turtleneck underneath it, her hair was tied in a messy bun, a pair of goggles were perched above her glasses, and she wore long purple rubber gloves. "There's no doubt about it, Spike." She said to her canine companion, a light purple dog with a tuft of green fur atop his head, who was busy playing with his chew-toy. "Whatever these strange phenomenons are, they seem to be going on in various points of the city...." She mused as she pulled out a picture of the Crimson Dragon and pinned it to one of the strip charts. "And this... Crimson Dragon may just be the cause of it..."

Spike however simply snarled as he continued to play with his chew-toy, to which the girl simply sighed in exasperation. "Sorry if I don't sound enthusiastic to play Spike, I just have a lot on my mind." The girl said as she went for a strange box-shaped device not too far away from her desk. It had a standard handle attached to the bottom, antennas on the top, an adjustable dial, and an oscilloscope signal with a pointer and dial gauge split into two regions, green and red. "I have to head out... unless you wanna come?"

_This_ got Spike's attention as he dropped the chew-toy and rushed towards his master, barking enthusiastically and he leaped the chair. “I'll take that as a "yes"!” She giggled as she placed the device into her bag and quickly pulled out a leash. “I suppose it _would_ look a little less suspicious if I was walking you and not snooping around…” However she then caught a glimpse of her reflection on one of the blank monitors and sighed. "But I look like a wreck.... and there's no way I'll be making myself look like one of those... bullies at Crystal Prep…"

* * *

A few minutes later the girl made her way out of her room wearing sneakers, jeans, and a hooded sweatshirt, said hood covering up as much of her face as possible. Inside her book-bag was her scanning device as well as a few notes… and some doggy bags and a spare leash for her pet.

“Mom! I’m taking Spike out for a walk!” She called out as she opened the door.

"Alright Twilight! Just be careful and make sure his leash is on good!" Her mom yelled back as the girl exited her house.

"Alright Spike, adventure awaits us." She said as she began the trek to find the source of the anomalies. “Let us venture forth! FOR SCIENCE!!”

* * *

Meanwhile in the closed-off section of the city, Adagio was pacing back and forth Aria was typing relentlessly on her laptop, both of them waiting for their youngest sister. “Still nothing!?” Aria groaned as she closed the laptop in frustration. “Seriously, you'd think that symbol on the ring would be part of some sort of ancient civilization or have some historical trivia behind it, but everything's coming up blank!”

"You can't be serious. Just... search it again." Adagio growled as she continued to pace. "AND WHERE IN TARTARUS IS SONATA?! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BACK BY NOW!"

As if on cue, their youngest siblings slid down into the abandoned tunnel carrying a few bags. "Guess who bought tacos!" She smiled as she approached the two.

"...tacos? Really Sonata!?" Aria snarled in irritation. "You couldn't have gotten anything else!?"

"Hey, you spend time saving up coupons and then you can choose whatever you want for dinner!" Sonata jabbed back, sticking out her tongue.

"YOU ALWAYS GO OUT FIRST AND BURN ANY COUPON THAT ISN'T ABOUT TACOS!" Aria snapped at her. "SERIOUSLY WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND THAT DAMN FOOD?! THE REST OF US CAN'T BUCKING JUST EAT THOSE THINGS FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!"

Sonata got dangerously close to Aria's face. "WELL MAYBE IF YOU GOT OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND DIDN'T ALWAYS SADDLE ME WITH THE CHORES, WHICH MIGHT I INCLUDE BUYING FOOD, THEN MAYBE YOU WOULDN'T-"

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!!" Adagio finally snapped.

"NO! HOW ABOUT YOU BE QUIET ADAGIO!" Aria snapped back causing both to stare in shock. "SONATA HAS BEEN LITERALLY FEEDING US THE SAME DAMN FOOD AND NOTHING ELSE JUST TO SPITE US! I'M SO SICK OF THE DAMN TACO WEEK! IT'S ALWAYS TACO WEEK!"

"Well to be fair, last I checked it was your job to get the food during certain points of the week until you decided to shovel it all onto Sonata, so kindly get off your lazy ass!" She scoffed before turning to her youngest sister. "And you, just because you love the food more than life itself doesn't mean the rest of us have to!"

"Adagio I keep TRYING to get the food job again but guess who keeps getting in front of me when that happens?" Aria said before pointing to Sonata who was whistling while slowly pushing a taco bag towards Aria. "I mean seriously you punish me more than her! Sometimes for shit that's actually her fault! Why are you pulling a mom...... wait are you doing this because mom said I was her favorite?!"

"N-NO!" Adagio quickly replied as she turned away. "This has nothing to do with that-"

"OH. MY. GOD." Aria snapped as she stormed up to her. "YOU'RE STILL HOLDING A GRUDGE!? ARE YOU FUCKING FOR REAL RIGHT NOW!?"

"Wait Dagi's still holding a grudge? Huh. That's neat." Sonata said as she gently poked Aria with the taco bag. "But come on Aria. You know you wanna eaaaaaaaaat."

Aria glared at her little sister and smacked the bag away. "Poke me with that one more time and I'll shove it down your throat!"

Adagio groaned at this. "I swear to God..."

"Hey! You can't do that! You don't believe in stuff like that!" Sonata shouted… only to have a taco thrown in her face.

* * *

Downtown, the doors of a bus opened up and Twilight stepped out with Spike in her arms. “Alright Spike, the signals seemed to be coming from this section of the city…” She explained as she placed him on the ground and placing his collar around his neck. “Now then, let's begin our search!” Spike only barked as the leash was locked onto him. Twilight shivered as the bus drove off. "Wow it's chillier out here then I thought. Is the outside always this cold?" Spike simply snorted as he started sniffing around, eagerly taking in the new sights and scents.... until his nose caught a whiff of a more distinct smell...

Food!

Twilight barely had the chance to properly hold onto Spike's leash before he scurried off, dragging his owner with him. "Spike! Hold on a sec-" Twilight protested.... only to notice her scanning device reacting... and it was getting stronger as she moved in the direction Spike was pulling her! "Okay Spike, take me wherever you're going!" Twilight said with a smile as she ran alongside him. Spike just yelped a few more times as he picked up the pace. As the two continued to run they turned the corner and accidentally pushed past a girl with yellow hair with red streaks and a leather jacket.

"Sorry!" Twilight called out as she continued to run.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" The girl fired back before storming down the street in the opposite direction....

* * *

After finally settling down and eating their lunch, The trio of siblings made their way through the subway tunnels once more. "Dagi? Why exactly are we going back to that creepy puddle of red stuff?" Sonata asked. "Didn't we decide that it was too dangerous to feed from it?"

Adagio simply gave her youngest sister a confident grin. "At first... but I think I've figured out how to get around that little issue…”

"Is it toss a coat over it and then walk on the coat? Because that's my idea first." Sonata said. Adagio groaned and Aria simply rolled her eyes. "What?! It's an idea! Not a set in stone thing!"

“NOT LITERALLY YOU DOLT!” Adagio snapped as they walked out of the train and climbed up to the station. “I mean a awa we can feed from it and gain more power!”

Aria gave her sister a wary look. “The last time you fed from it was pretty freaky though… it felt like you were going to snap and go slasher mode on us…”

“That was just an adrenaline rush, nothing more.” Adagio replied, casually stepping over some rubble. “But this time, it'll be different.”

"Okay just saying. I don't think it will Dagi. I mean last time you said that we ended up here after getting our ass kicked by those six big jerks when you said this town wasn't going to fight back." Sonata pointed out.

Adagio's eye twitched upon being forced to recall _THAT_ bitter memory. "That's because it was a small, off the road town with no guards! If SOMEONE had managed to round up all the villagers and NOT miss one we'd still be in Equestria right now!" She fired back as they approached the acidic puddle, several bubbles and red sparks started dancing across its surface... as if it could sense their conflict. "But this time, no one even knows about this little source of power, or us for that matter. If we play our cards right and be more subtle, we'll be able to bring this entire city under our control!”

* * *

Not too far from the siblings location, Twilight took a moment to catch her breath. "OK Spike.. just... just give me a moments..." She said between gasps. "WOW, Shining Armor was right, I'm really out of shape..." She sighed... only to notice Spike about to eat something off the ground. "Spike no! You don't know where that's been!" She shouted as she picked him up... and unintentionally stepped on something that made a loud *SQUELCH* looking down she realized that is was a small bag of food. "Is this... a burrito?" She then groaned in irritation before glaring at her pet. "Spike I swear, if you seriously dragged me all the way here just because you smelled some food it's no treats for a week."

Spike could only bark in disappointment, Twilight sighed at this. _'Wish I could invent a device that let me talk with animals…’_ She thought as she decided to start scanning for any anomalies in the area, hoping she didn't get dragged over here for no reason. Much to her surprise however, her scanner was going nuts! A bright smile adorned her face as she immediately started searching the area, only to realize that she wasn't too far away from the construction site. "So the signal is coming from where the first anomaly took place? Maybe that "Crimson Dragon" left something behind?" She mused to herself as she continue to search the area, eventually coming close to the gig that separated her from the abandoned and unstable buildings, but what really got her attention was the hole in the gate.... someone had been sneaking in here...

* * *

"Okay girls, here's the plan..." Adagio began as she and her sisters stood around the acidic puddle in the circular formation. However it was right around then that they heard barking.... and someone talking....

“These readings are amazing! I swear, I might just be close to the discovery of a lifetime!”

The trio quickly ran up the stairs leading out of the subway and hid behind an overturned police car. Peeking around the side they saw Twilight searching around the hole in the building. “....but, should I really go in?” She asked herself. “This place doesn't look very stable… they haven't even started reconstruction in this area yet...”

"Ancestors dammit, Sonata!" Adagio whispered in irritation as Aria glared at her younger sister.

The youngest sibling glared at the eldest. “How do you know it was _my_ fault?!”

The three peeked out from behind the car once more to see Spike barking as he leaped out of her arms, rushing over to a dropped taco. “Spike, no! That's people food! You'll get sick!” Twilight shouted as she pulled him back with the leash.

Sonata giggles nervously as her siblings gave her a disappointed/aggravated glare. “Ehehehe… oops?”

“Oh, never mind. We need to get this girl away from here and block off the exit.” Adagio whispered, trying to focus on the matter at hand. “She could end up finding that puddle…”

“So what? It's not like she know exactly what it is or how to use it, right?” Aria chimed in.

“She could end up drawing attention to this area, the only reason the construction workers haven't covered this area yet is because we've been able to “convince” them otherwise.” Adagio explained, before turning her attention back to Twilight. “That’s a risk we can't afford to take. Sonata? You're going to lead her away. Me and Aria will close off the opening and and text you where to find us afterwards."

Nodding, Sonata immediately snuck over to the building and ran up the stairs to the second floor. Just as Twilight was about to walk through the hole, she jumped out of the window and landed a few feet behind her, getting her attention.

"What the-!? Who are-"

"TACO ATTACK!" She shouted before hurling one of her tacos at Twilight.

"OW!" Twilight grimaced as the taco hit her in the face, her canine companion immediately growling at the supposed threat to his master. "What the heck?! What is wrong with you?!"

Sonata simply blew a raspberry at her under her mask and ran off. "You'll never catch me!" She shouted tauntingly.

"Why would I-WAIT, SPIKE COME BACK!" Twilight shouted as her pet leaped out of her arms and started giving chase. "I swear this dog will be the death of me." Twilight mumbled as she chased after Spike.

* * *

Sonata was keeping a good distance for them to see her but enough to actually catch her. Running from angry homeless folks does have it's benefits after all. Spike continued to bark as he chased after the perceived threat to his master, occasionally jumping over or crawling under some rubble in an attempt to catch up with her. After a few turns he saw the threat climbing over a gate and noticed a small hole at the bottom. Growling, he immediately crawled through the hole and proceeded to give chase once more, only to be yanked back, he realized his leash had gotten caught in the gate. He angrily started pulling as hard as he could and slipped the collar over and off his head. Proud of his accomplishment immediately turned the corner to gave chase once more... only to unintentionally bump into someone's legs.

"Whoa there little guy." The person's voice asked. Spike shook his head as he looked up at the stranger.... he wasn't sure exactly how to feel about the person but that wasn't the point. The threat! The threat to his master!

Spike started looking around for her, but could only see hundreds of more people walking about through the streets, going about their daily lives. And sadly her scent was lost amongst the sea of various others. Spike's ears drooped as he started to whimper, realizing that he had lost her...

"Hey there, easy a little guy. Are you lost?" The person asked as he picked him up, bringing Spike face-to-face with him. Spike just whimpered and looked sad at how he failed his master. The person petted him which helped Spike a little but it wasn't the same. Now master was going to be mad at him for losing the threat.

"There, there little guy... how about I help you find your owner? I'm sure they must be really worried about you." The person reassured Spike as he gave him a nice scratch behind the ears. Spike's tail wagged at the mention of his master, maybe this person wasn't so bad after all. They might know his master and bring them together! She'd be more worried than mad at him if that happened and then he wouldn't get punished with the red dot!

* * *

"Spike? Spike! Here boy!"

Sonata peeked around the corner as Twilight continued to call out for her dog. Smirking, she casually walked off, whoever she was she be too busy looking for her pet to concern herself with whatever she was looking for near the puddle... and by that point the entrance would have been blocked off and they have a different way of accessing it.

As she continued on her way she felt her phone vibrating and quickly pulled it out, it was a message from her sisters on where to meet up next.... she then stared in disgust at the designated location. ".... why the Shawarma place!? I _HATE_ Shawarma!"

* * *

"Spike! Here boy! Come on!" Twilight yelled as she whistled after him, making her way out of the alleyways near the closed-off section and back to the more busy streets of the city. "Spike! Here boy! Spike-OOF!" She continued to call before she accidentally bumped into a girl with rainbow-colored hair. "Sorry!"

"Nah it's my fault lady. I wasn't looking." The girl said as she brushed herself off. "You looking for something or someone named Spike?"

"He's my dog. We were chasing someone and.... look it doesn't matter I need to find him." Twilight said with worry in her voice. "Oh God, what if the Dog Catcher got him!?"

"Hey, hey, calm down." The girl said as she placed her hand on the panicking girl's shoulder. "I've got some time before I gotta meet up with a friend, maybe I can help you find him?"

"....w-why? You don't even know me." Twilight asked the girl in confusion. She'd just met her and yet she was willing to help her right off the bat? "I-I'm just a nobody..."

For a split-second, in Twilight's place, the rainbow-haired girl saw one of her old friends, someone she'd stop seeing long ago... shaking her head, she gave the girl a warm smile. "Hey now, don't talk like that, whoever told you you're a nobody doesn't have the right to claim they know you." She stated firmly. "Now then, where did you last see your dog?"

"I-I saw him running up.... I think an alleyway near Cirrus Street." Twilight stammers as she rubs her eyes under her glasses again.

The girl took a moment to think about this before pulling out her phone and bringing up a map of the city. "Cirrus Street.... Cirrus Street... Wait a sec! That's what the music store is!" She smiled as she grabbed Twilight's arm and started running. "Good news! I know someone who hangs out there most of the time! If you're dog's anywhere in the area he'll probably have spotted it!"

"Y-you mean it?!" Twilight asked excitedly.

"Yeah just give me a moment." She said as she looked through and found who she was looking for and quick-dialed them. "Hello? Hey Flash! Listen, I know we don't chat much but... yeah, yeah I know, look okay I get it, Scoots shouldn't prank your little brother like that. I gave her a talking to and we straightened it out. Look, I need your help. Some girl lost her dog on Cirrus Street. Think you can find it?"

She went silent for a moment as the person on the other end began to talk, Twi noticing her smile getting slightly wider as she continued to listen, after a few seconds she glanced back at Twilight. "Your dog wouldn't happen be small, purple, with a tuft of green fur on its head, would it?"

"THAT'S HIM!" Twilight shouted excitedly.

"Bingo! Flash that's the one." The girl said as they stopped near the corner. "I'm across the street from the auto parts shop. Get over here and the girl might give ya a “reward” for savin' her dog." She said with a wink at Twilight.

Twilight felt her face heat up for a moment then when she said this. "W-W-WHAT!? B-B-BUT-I DON'T EVEN-"

"Relax four-eyes, I'm joking." The girl said as she gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. "Although you do gotta be careful around these parts of the city..." The girl thought for a moment, as if trying to remember something... and then let out an embarrassed laugh. "Wow, all that and I didn't even bother asking your name, or doing mine for that matter..." She held out her hand towards Twilight. "Name's Rainbow Dash, and you?"

"Twilight...... Twilight Sparkle." She answered with a smile as she shook her hand.

"Well Twilight Twilight Sparkle you gotta be careful around these parts of the city they are.... less friendly than most other spots.” She explained as she leaned against the wall. “Especially if you see a girl with.... well only way I can describe it is fucking bacon hair. Just stay away from her, trust me."

Twilight winced at her vulgar tone, wondering what kind of grudge she had against such a person…. and why the description sounded so familiar...

“So, what part of the city are you from? I've never seen you around these parts, or Canterlot High for that matter.” Rainbow asked, trying to make small talk while they waited.

Twilight was about to answer but briefly froze when she mentioned the Canterlot High. If there was one thing she knew from her time in Crystal Prep it was that both her school in the one Rainbow mentioned downright _hated_ each other the passion. The last thing she wanted to do is get on her new associates’ bad side by bringing up that she was from a rival School. “Um… w-well, y'see… I'm not from around here, I'm… uh, um... home-schooled!” She lied, smiling awkwardly.

"...okay stop lying Twilight." Rainbow said as she arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Like you're a worse liar than an old friend of mine and she SUCKS at lying. So come on. Upfront and honest. Where did you come from?"

"I... well... y'see..."

Thankfully she was spared the trial of having to explain further by a familiar bark. "Spike!?" She smiled as she and Rainbow Dash immediately rushed around the corner. "Spike!?"

"I'm assuming this little guy is yours?" A young man asked as he held Spike in his arms. The man in question had spiky, deep-blue hair, he wore simple jeans, a white T-shirt with an icon resembling a yellow lightning bolt on a blue shield, and a dark gray jacket with a red and white stripe on the back and each sleeve.

Sighing in relief Twilight ran up to him as Spike leaped into her arms. "Oh thank you, thank you so much!"

"No problem. Poor guy looked lost." He smiled as he gave him another scratch behind the ears, which he happily accepted. "You're lucky I found him and not the dog catcher...."

"See Twilight? Told ya you'd get him back." Rainbow said, giving her a playful pat on the back with a proud smirk on her face. “Thanks for the assist, Flash!”

"Yeah, I'm not exactly familiar with this part of the city, so you saved me a lot of searching too." Twilight said as she scratched Spike's head and gave him a warm smile. “Thank you so much.”

Flash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Hey, it was nothing, really… I couldn't imagine the thought of Ember being lost and alone out here…”

Twilight blinked at this. “Oh, you have a dog too?”

"No, a pet cat." Flash said as he chuckled a bit. "I like dogs but..... more of a cat person."

"Oh... well cats are nice to." Twilight said with a smile as she scratched Spike's ear again.

"So Twilight..." Rainbow began, getting back into the conversation. "You said you don't usually come to the city, what brings you here now?"

Flash blinked that this. "Oh, you're new in town?"

"In a sense, I live in the more suburban areas outside of the city." Twilight admitted. "As for the reason I'm here... well, I kind of heard a lot about these weird occurrences..."

"Funny, that's usually the reason people want to get _away_ from the city these days..." Flash added, remembering how a few people had already moved out after the first attack…

"Well I'm not one of those people." Twilight said defensively. "I'm trying to figure out what exactly happened in regards to the... "Crimson Dragon", that's what everyone's calling the red one right?"

"Yeah... personally I think something's off with her." Rainbow said with a glare. "Seriously something about that girl rubs me the wrong way."

Flash scoffed at this. “You mean besides the giant dragon arm? Seriously, that thing just looks weird.” He stated bluntly. “Then again, it's better we have her flying around than those freaky zombies-WHOA!” He yelped in surprise as Twilight got dangerously close.

“You mean you two have actually SEEN her!?” She asked, an unnervingly wide smile on her face. “Where!? When!? Does she have a set pattern in her appearances!? I need details!” She started asking as she pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Okay okay jeez. Cool your jets!" Rainbow said as she tried to pull her away from Flash. "Sorry I had no idea she'd do that..... and I think she lost her dog again."

"Didn't get far this time...." He mused, pointing over her shoulder, the two turned to see Spike casually sniffing at a fire hydrant. "You might wanna put a leash on him before someone else mistakes him for a stray..."

"Right, sorry about that." Twilight said in an embarrassed tone as she pulled out a spare leash from her bag and quickly fastened it around Spike's neck. "It's just whenever the opportunity for research presents itself I can get a little... excited..."

"Yeah no kidding." Dash said with a small chuckle. "So you doing anything else or-"

"Oh, um... I have to... I actually need to get home soon." Twilight said quickly as she hurried off with Spike. Flash chuckled at how Dash handled that.

"Really? Did you just try and hit on her?" Flash said.... and immediately regretted joking like that.

"....so what if I did, huh? Is that a problem?" Dash sneered in a more defensive tone. "Because you know that bitch-"

"Look I'm sorry. I forgot how sensitive that subject is." Flash said with a disappointed sigh. "And for the record I wouldn't care if you were or weren't gay."

"Sweet, another name to add to the very short "won't judge you" list..." Dash sighed. "I mean it's not _that_ weird is it? Lots of people are coming out as that now."

Flash just sighed. "Rainbow I want to sound like I know what I'm talking about... but half the time I just pull stuff out of my a-."

"WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT!" they both heard Twilight shouting as she dashed back to the two. "I need your numbers!"

Rainbow and Flash shared a look and stared at her a bit. "Uh-"

"In case an anomaly shows up!” She quickly added, blushing madly upon realizing how that sounded.

"Well.... I mean this feels kinda abrupt." Dash said as she scratched her head. "I mean no offense, you seem really nice but I barely know you."

She almost immediately she regretted saying that as Twilight nodded and looked completely dejected. “I'm sorry, I meant to ask before but um... I-I got a bit embarrassed. I don't socialize well that often...."

Flash sighed at this as he stepped in. "Hey, we didn'y exactly say no, you just came on a little strong, it happens. We're still willing to exchange numbers if you are..."

"Oh.... w-well I mean.... sure." She sighed in relief before addressing Rainbow Dash. "But you're kinda right I just kinda assumed you'd give me your numbers without thinking." Twilight said as she rubbed the back of her head. "But I would really appreciate some help in locating the anomalies.... please this could be really important."

"... I don't see why we can't do that, right Dash?" Flash smiled, with Dash herself nodding as they both pulled their phones out. "Okay are you ready to get mine first?"

"S-Sure" Twilight nodded as she pulled out her phone and began the exchange.

Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle at the awkwardness of the situation. _'Yeah, she's just like... her....'_ She thought as a feeling of nostalgia momentarily distracted her…

"Um.... Rainbow are you ready to share?" Twilight asked, causing Dash to snap out of her daze.

"Huh.... um.... sure why not?"

Twilight smiled as they both popped up on her list of contacts.... and then gave them both a blank stare when she notice exactly what their mobile nicknames were. "SentryMan and The Dashinator? _Really_?"

"What? it's a cool nickname!" They both proudly proclaimed at the same time.

_'What have I gotten myself into...?'_ Twilight mentally sighed as Spike started scratching himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice little breather chapter. Everyone needs a break in the action right?


	7. Light of Hope,Abyss of Avarice (Pt1)

Rainbow Dash could only sigh as she made her way through the school halls. She, along with the rest of the school, had been alerted that Pinkie Pie was found in a comatose state a few days ago. Needless to say the atmosphere entire School felt a little glummer….

"Hey, did you hear about what happened to Pinkie?” She heard Button Mash chatting with Rumble as she leaned against the lockers.

"Yeah, but the weird thing is, they said she was attacked by one of the gangs but... well my dad couldn't describe it but apparently someone took most of their members out on the same night." Rumble stated. "Here's the weird thing though, my dad said a lot of the people who were in the area said they saw the Crimson Dragon... and she was fighting someone else..."

THIS got Rainbow's attention, prompting her to start listening in on the two boys.

"Wait. Who was she fighting? A-another one of those-"

"Nah. From the sounds of things it was someone like her. Only yellow and..... well alive." Button said with a shrug. "I mean I dunno. Sounds kinda fishy and made up."

"Can't be too sure about that, considering everything that's been happening...." Rumble sighed. "I mean it's one thing that more of them are popping up, but biggest question on everyone's mind is where they're all coming from..."

Having heard enough, Rainbow Dash quickly pulled out her phone and started texting. _'Twi's gonna want to hear about this...'_

* * *

_One Hour Later..._

Twilight looked around as she waited outside Sugarcube Corner. RD said she had something to share and she wanted to tell her in person.... but did it have to be during a school time? "Okay.... okay it's fine. It's fiiiine..." She whispered to herself as she made sure her hood covered her head. "I'm just a little early. She'll be here soon and-"

"-give you a fantastic little bit of news?" Rainbow whispered right behind her ear with a smirk on her face.... before getting punched in the gut hard enough to keel over and clutch it. "OW! Wh-where did you get that tough?"

"Self-defense lessons from my brother....l" Twilight commented instinctively, before realizing exactly who she just punched. "Wait, Rainbow Dash?! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! You just startled me and-wait, why did you sneak up on me like that!?"

"I-it's just something I like to do.... ow this hurts." Rainbow groaned. "I just like scarin' folks for a prank at times..... but good on your bro for giving you lessons." Twilight gulped and helped her up. "Th-thanks."

"Don't mention it.... um.... again I'm REALLY sorry I just didn't know it was you!" Twilight said with a bright red blush on her face. "S-so..... what is it you wanted to tell me? It sounded really important."

“Right… y’see I heard some gossip about that Crimson Dragon popping up around these parts again…” She began to explain. “Only this time she was fighting someone with the same powers… and it wasn't those creepy zombies.”

"She was? Where was this? WHEN was this? Was it recent? Was it just two hours ago?!" Twilight shouted, asking at an almost machine gun pace.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA EASY THERE!" Rainbow said as Twilight had gotten uncomfortably close to her during this time. "I-I think it was last week or something! You mind giving me some space?!"

"Right, sorry..." Twilight chuckled before jotting down some notes. "One of my scanners did pick up a brief energy spike around that time, but it was slightly more aggressive..." She whispered to herself as she went over her previous notes. "At the moment they don't seem to be following any set pattern in their appearances.... so if I'm going to cover more ground I need to increase the range and-"

"Uh hello? Not exactly a scientist, care to explain what you're getting at?" Rainbow interrupted.

"Oh.... well simply put I can trace where she is by the power she uses and can adjust it to work for others like her." Twilight said with a smile. "And it's easy to figure out their frequency if I can figure hers out."

"Don't you already know it? I mean your sensor thingies or whatever pick her up. Right?"

"By using the Crimson Dragon's energy output as a basis, sure. However it'll be a little trickier to isolate others with vastly different energy outputs..." Twilight explained as they started walking down the street. "However, if I could pinpoint the source I might be able to create a digital beacon that could pull it off... but... I need to be able to scan from a higher altitude level..."

"Sounds like you need wings and sorry but I'm not that kinda girl." Rainbow said. "I mean not unless you wanna go to Coast City for that bird guy I hear about.... I mean not that I think he's real or anything. That's just... that's just dumb." She looked somewhat sweaty at that part.

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "Let's focus on the actual issue at hand... as I was saying, I need to scan from a higher altitude... maybe one of the skyscrapers-"

"I'm going to stop you right there Twilight," Rainbow interrupted abruptly. "Ever since the repeat attacks security has been beefed up in many areas, so any buildings you're thinking about visiting will have their upper levels closed off to the public."

Twilight stopped to think for a moment... and an idea came to mind. "Well what about the Ferris Wheel in Equestria Land?" She asked her. "That's a high point and it's not closed off. I can get up there and get my scan. Easy as that!"

"....do you know how much getting into Equestria Land _costs_?" Rainbow said with a snicker. "It's more then what I can afford.... then again that's without usin' the discount. Can't tell ya HOW many times I exploited that little loophole..."

Twilight arched a brow at this. "....what discount?" She asked, not being as familiar with the amusement park due to her only memory of being there when she was my child... that and she was more focused and throwing herself into her studies.

"Oh you don't know? Couples can get special discounts for any ride at the carnival. It's ridiculous. This one time me and Gilda..... nah, you don't wanna know." Rainbow said with a chuckle. "So yeah. You got a date? I'd volunteer but uh... the kiddo wants someone with her tonight."

Twilight's face became about as red as a tomato upon being asked this. "I-I don't... the LAST thing on my mind these days is dating!" She stammered in embarrassment.

"But getting that data IS the FIRST thing on your mind." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I'd say spending the day an amusement park with someone isn't really sacrificing that much..."

"Well yeah, when you put it like that..." Twilight sighed. "...but who would I go with?

"I dunno. I'm not good with love advice." Rainbow said with a shrug. "I mean look at who you're talking to. Do I look a love doctor or something? I'd love to help buuuut.... yeah." She said with a weak smile... but then had an idea. "That being said..... hey, how about Flash?"

"Hmmm.... I suppose I could ask..." She smiled before pulling out her phone.... however she hesitated the moment his icon popped up. "....wait, I never even asked anyone out before!"

Rainbow's eye twitched. _'How anti-social was this girl before we met?!'_

* * *

_The Next Day…_

Fortunately, Flash was free for the weekend and more than happy to accompany her to Equestria Land. He'd even offered to pay for any snack they bought after Twilight paid for the tickets. It was a beautiful day, the theme park was driving with activity...

...and yet things were VERY awkward between the two of them.

"So..... which ride you want to go on first?" Flash asked Twilight nervously. "I mean.... I'm fine with any ride but you're the one who chose the place." He started mentally beating himself up for how really bad that came out.

"W-well... um, I-I I was thinking maybe we could check out the bumper cars first?" She asked awkwardly, biting her lip. While the ferris wheel was her primary target, she felt that it would be unfair to drag him here if she was going to focus on only one ride. "If you want to I mean, I'm sure there's many other rides-"

"N-No no, you're the one who invited me, I don't want to hog all the choices or anything like that..." Flash replied, the awkwardness of the situation making him even more nervous. _‘She thinks I'm some kinda stand-offish jackass. CRAP this date barely started and I'm already messing it up.'_ Flash groaned in his head as he put up a fake smile. _'Just.... just keep calm. Maybe she's calm and thinking of a way to turn this date around. Yeah. That's what she's thinking up.'_

Contrary to his beliefs however, within Twilight's mind was not a plan to make this date go smoothly, but rather one whirlwind of an argument.

_'HOW THE HELL ARE YOU MAKING THIS DATE SO AWKWARD?!'_ An aggressive voice bellowed within her mind.

_'I DON'T KNOOOO-HO-HO-HOOOOO!'_ A more meek and saddened voice responded. _'I brought him here and I'm already making things weird! Why did I let Rainbow Dash talk me into this!? I'm terrible at social interactions!'_ Twilight thought nervously as she desperately trying to put up the illusion that she was enjoying herself. _'It's ok Twilight, just stay calm, I'm sure he's already thinking of some way to make this whole date more enjoyable. Yeah, that's it! He's got this!'_

The two awkwardly held each others hands and began walking through the crowd, a scared look on both of their faces. The look that screamed they had no idea what they were doing. But they were not about to bow out now.... they did pay to get in after all.

_'Dear GOD I'm bad at this!'_ They both thought.

* * *

Sunset sighed as she sat atop one of the many skyscrapers overlooking the ruined section of the city, her thoughts drifting back to her first battle upon receiving the ring....

"He said "The city will be ours"... and yet I haven't even seen any more of those monsters since taking him out...." She pondered to herself. "Normally I'd assume he was bluffing, but why waste breath on a bluff?"

As she asked this she looked at her own ring.... and remembered her more recent fight with that yellow ringed psycho with the animatronics..... those were some images that were going to stay buried in her subconscious for a while. Along with the internal shame of the Green Guardian saving her.... just the name was groan inducing. _'Who made that name up anyway? A kid? Wait,could kids actually get rings like mine?'_

She briefly chuckled at the thought of a child of all people getting their hands on one of these rings, but her thoughts soon drifted to other matters. _'That being said, why are there so many variations of these rings? The red one is clearly the best at killing these freaks....'_ She pondered to herself as she summon a small amount of the Ring's energy to trace out the symbols on the surface of each.

The one those undead creatures held.

The one the Green Guardian utilized.

The one Pinkie Pie temporarily got her hands on (somehow).

And finally her own, all of them arranged in a diamond formation.

"Just how many of these rings are there? And how many more will come-WOAH!” And as she said that a bright orange light zipped by her, literally in front of her face as she could feel the wind, and took off to parts unknown.

“Oh when the stars align.” Sunset smirked as she summoned her armor and immediately took off after the ring. "Alright now. Let's see if I can get some answers.... and maybe acquire a new power to add to my own....”

* * *

A few blocks away from Sunset's location, the Green Guardian hovered over another section of the city, watching as the reconstruction of the city continued, a small part of her wondering when these dark creatures would make their next move. Despite the fact that they'd made such a grand showcasing of their power, they went completely silent after their first wave had been destroyed...

'...what are they planning...?' She thought to herself. However she soon felt her own phone vibrates and sighed, lowering herself onto one of the abandoned buildings, the lower part of her mask vanished mask vanished as she answered it. "Hello? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[Just checking up on you.] A voice responded from the other end. [Have you managed to discover where the yellow ring flew off to? The last thing we need is someone even more unstable getting their hands on that thing...]

"Sadly no… it seems to have completely vanished... I'll call back when I have more information." The Guardian sighed as she hung up and summoned her mask back. "This is getting more complicated by the day….”

_ [Greed Energy detected.] _

The Guardian blinked as she noticed an orange light shoot across the sky with Sunset in hot pursuit. "Aaaand it seems like I spoke too soon....”

* * *

_'Well.... there's one thing I've learned about Twilight and myself today....'_ Flash thought to himself as he made his way out of the haunted house.... with Twilight holding his arm in a death-grip, her eyes wide open as her body shivered with every step she took. _'....we BOTH hate jump-scares.'_

"Let's um.... let's _never_ go back there. Okay?" Twilight asked as the two quickly walked away from the haunted house. "I just..... that was something I never want to go through again."

"Y-yeah." Flash said as he gulped. "So um.... wanna.... go on the Ferris Wheel? Maybe it'll help ya relax."

"Y-Yeah, after going on almost every fast pace ride there is, I think something slow and easy with be a good change of pace..." Twilight sighed before mentally kicking herself, she'd practically forgotten the main reason she come here in the first place! Then again, she'd been having surprising amount of fun, while she'd never set foot into the haunted house ever again, everything before that was actually enjoyable. Apparently, she'd gotten her love for adrenaline rushes from her mother given how much she'd enjoyed the roller coaster...

_'Research Twilight! Focus on the research!'_ She mentally scolded herself as they got in.

"So um.... nice night out huh?" Flash asked as the two sat down and the ride began. "I mean it'd be better with a full moon and all but it's still really cool with a half moon. Don't you think?" He then turned and saw her... fidgeting with something. "Uuuuh.... Twilight?"

"Come on.... come on, work. We're getting close to the top..." Twilight whispered as she continued to fiddle with her device.... only to jump when she heard Flash clear his throat. "GAH! Oh.... sorry Flash..."

"It's fine.... um what is that exactly?" He asked, genuinely interested. "It doesn't look like a normal science fair project is all I'm saying. "

"Oh um.... it's just a small project I'm working on... it's supposed to detect energy but at the moment I don't think it's working. Stupid thing." Twilight groaned as she tried fiddling with it some more. "Come on you were working earlier."

"...maybe there's a wire crossed?" Flash suggested meekly.

"That's impossible, I did a systems check up for the entire thing before I left. The parts I use should be more than capable handling the strain and-" Twilight blinked as she turned her attention back to Flash with somewhat guilty expression. "I'm boring you, aren't I?"

"No, no! It's just..... I never really knew anyone _this_ into technology. I mean that all sounds impressive.... but it really could just be a minor thing you overlooked." He said with a small smile before handing her a swiss army knife. "There should be a screw on it you can use to open it up."

Twilight was a bit surprised by this, but was more than willing to accept this small miracle. Quickly flipping out the screw, she immediately opened her device up, revealing several data chips, blinking lights and wires. "Okay, let's see what the problem is-" Twilight stopped in mid-sentence, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. "Wow.... you were right.... well mostly. The red wire is supposed to be going into a different socket, and I completely forgot to connect the cooling fan to the main battery... thanks Flash."

"It was nothing, really." The blue-haired guitarist replied modestly. "I'm more impressed by the amount of detail and fine-tuning you put into that device. Half of that stuff doesn't look like it can be bought at any store..."

"Well they aren't and you can't..... I built them all." Twilight said with a proud smile. "I mean this whole thing is MY idea and my brain child. I mean some of it was store bought but only small things. The rest of it was all me."

"That's.... incredible." Flash exclaimed. "You sure you're not distantly related to MacGyver?" He joked.

"Oh stop..." Twilight blushed.

"I'm just saying, to be able to put something like this together all on your own? You've got to be the smartest girl I've ever met." He stated in a sincere tone.

".... oh.... okay um.... th-th-thanks." Twilight eeped out as she turned away, her face now beet red. _‘Okay WOW that.... what is going on? I-I'm not getting data and he's being.... ooooooh this is so embarrassing.’_ At that very moment however, her device started beeping like crazy. "What th-oh my gosh it's working! This is perfect! It's-"

At first, Twilight was overjoyed to be getting so much data, the readings were practically off the charts! But then she realized something, for the data to be this accurate, the source had to be very.... VERY close. Looking up from her device, she saw an orange light rushing towards the theme park.... followed by a crimson glow in hot pursuit.

"Oh no...."

* * *

It had arrived at its destination, searching through the hundreds of civilians in the theme park. It could sense it, small sparks of greed within this endless sea of varying emotions. But a simple spark of greed wasn't all that was needed for the bright orange light to choose it's host, no, what was needed was a strong sense of desire...

And that's exactly what it got as two pulses of avarice caught it's attention. It swiftly shot towards the source, as it got closer the second pulse got bigger and bigger until it practically eclipsed the first one.

_[Host detected.]_ The Ring exclaimed, before bursting down through the ceiling of the backstage props room, rushing towards it's unsuspecting target and sliding onto their middle finger.

_ [You want it all.] _

It was then that its new host felt an unquenchable desire as the power of Avarice flowed through their very body.... and a massive pillar of orange energy shot into the sky. Sending a shockwave throughout the entire park,

**"In coldest dusk and darkest dawn,  
I summon forth the cruelest spawn.  
I yearn for power, wealth and might,  
To take what's mine, that is my right!"**

* * *

"OH GOD THIS IS BAD!" Twilight screamed, holding onto Flash as the entire ferris wheel shook, her devices readings going off the charts. "THIS IS REALLY, REALLY BAD!!'

"Just stay close to me!" Flash replied as he hugged her close. "I'm sure evacuations are underway, we just gotta-"

Unfortunately, his attempted words of reassurance were cut off as he saw a crimson light arrived, hovering above the entrance to the theme park. _'Oooh **great...** '_

"Wait, it's... it's the Crimson Dragon!" Twilight exclaimed as she noticed the new arrival, breaking away from Flash annd looking out the window. "That's good right? She can take on whoever has that ring, right?"

Flash could only sigh. "I'm not 100% sure... I'm just hoping they take he fight outside the theme park..."

* * *

As Sunset arrived just outside of Equestria Land, she took a moment to inspect the area and could already see several people fleeing the amusement park. _'Ok, that's one issue out of the way, now where's the ring user...?'_

**"IT'S MINE YOU HEAR?! ALL MINE!"** A voice shouted an explosion occurred near the parking lot.

_'Offf course someone gets the ring first...'_ Sunset thought as she sped towards the explosion.

_[Warning: Avarice energy detected.]_ She heard her ring state as she got closer to site of the explosion.

Upon further inspection, she was able to spot what looked like an orange light emitting from the center. Not wasting a second, she created a construct in the form of several chains and immediately fired it from her dragon gauntlet into the ensuing explosion, the moment chains in question coiled around the figure within the light she pulled back as hard as she could, not willing to give whoever was using the ring a moment to retaliate. _'This time, the ring is MINE!'_ She thought to herself as she continued to pull.

However soon she was greeted by a hot dog cart hitting her in the face, breaking her concentration. Sunset landed one side of the street while the ring wielder crashed down on the opposite side, sending the powerful shockwave throughout the area. Due to the nearby fire Sunset could actually make out some of the features of the Orange Ring wielder.

Her figure was undoubtedly that of a female, slightly taller than Sunset herself, entire body was covered in an orange and black bodysuit. Her face was obscured by a sort of Luchador mask, the eye holes being in a sort of oval shape with small orange frills along the upper corners, going down the bridge of her nose were three small orange diamonds that stood out against the black parts of her mask, the area where her mouth would be was also obscured by an orange circle, and her hair was compressed into a long, unruly mohawk cut. There was a larger version of the symbol of her ring right above her breast area, an orange and black pattern in the form of a diamond decorated both her stomach and back. She wore long black gloves that went all the way up to her shoulders with orange colored fingers, along with small orange diamonds decorating her knuckles and going up her arm to her shoulder in a straight line. She also wore leggings that went right up to her hips with the same patterns, complete with high heel boots.

With flaring auras of red and orange, the two ring wielders locked eyes with one another, as if sizing each other up before making a move. "Alright psycho girl." Sunset snarled as she summoned up a broadsword. "You wanna dance? Then let's fucking dance. I needed something to smack my sword against."

**"YOU JUST WANT THE SHINIES! BUT YOU CAN'T! THEY'RE MINE! ALLLLL MINE!"**

The Red Lantern scoffed. “You're going to be seeing shiny stars when I'm done with you!”

The Orange Lantern made the first move as she dashed across the street, raising her fist with the intent of decking her opponent across the face... only for the Red Lantern to catch catch her fist before it made contact and slammed his knee into her stomach.

“Is that really your best shot?”Sunset chuckled in amusement as her opponent groaned in pain, briefly falling to her knees and she held her stomach. “I expected bett-”

*POW*

Sadly her moment of gloating was short-lived as her opponent recovered quicker than she expected, standing up and delivering a spinning kick to her face, sending her flying across the theme park and into the water of a nearby paddle boat ride.

**"HA! TAKE A WATER BREAK THIEF! AND STAY AWAY FROM MY SHINIES!"** The Orange Lantern shouted as she grabbed her things. **"THEY'RE MINE! ALLLL MINE!"**

As she rose out of the water, Sunset once more found herself fighting the primal urges of her ring, she tried thinking of ways to remove her opponent's ring and end the fight quickly, but at the same time she was fighting off the urge to kill. _'Keep it together Sunset....'_ She thought to herself. _'You've got to end this quickly before that damn Guardian shows up...'_ With that thought in mind, she immediately bolted towards her opponent, thrusting her dragon arm forward and summoning another construct in the form of a dragon's head that quickly attempted to clamp down upon the Orange Lantern.

However she dodged just in time and summoned up her own dragon, a three-headed wyvern covered in golden orange scales with two large wings in the place of it's non-existant arms, and two tails. The creature looked less angry and more as if it's own mind had been snapped into several pieces. Sunset managed to dodge it in time on pure instinct, as if her body knew that thing biting her would do more then just simply hurt for a while. However her construct wasn't so lucky as it met with the jaws of the creature and was destroyed. Sunset was too busy trying to keep up to notice, however, that the red energy was being syphoned into the beast itself... and that it had grown SEVERAL feet.

Sunset briefly considered withdrawing for the time being, but immediately dismissed that thought and slammed her fists together. _'No, if she's creating constructs that big, then that has to mean she's using up a lot of energy!'_ she thought to herself as she summoned a spiked fist on her left arm. _'This is a war of attrition, and I just need to outlast her!'_ With that thought in mind, the Red Lantern spread her wings and release the fiery aura around her body. "Alright then... let's see which is stronger, my flames, or your dragon!"

**"YOU'RE TAKING MY DRAGON TO!? YOU FUCKING BITCH!"** The Orange Lantern roars as one of the heads grabbed some nearby rubble and tossed them at Sunset with enough force that'd crush a normal person. However reacting fast Sunset inhaled deeply and exhaled a torrent of flames, incinerating the rubble, not wasting a second she charged through the melted remains. Another one of the heads attempted to take advantage of her momentary distraction and exhaled a boulder-sized fireball right in her face. However Sunset quickly conjured a sphere around herself and burst right through it, dodging and maneuvering through the remaining heads that attempted to bite her.

_‘This thing may be big, but it's also cumbersome, if I can distract it long enough…’_ Sunset thought to herself as she glanced at the Orange Lantern, who was commanding the beast from a safe distance. _‘...then I can bring the fight directly to her!’_ She then smirked as she began putting her plan into motion, after dodging another attack from one of the dragon heads she grabbed a nearby car by the bumper "Catch!" Sunset roared as she tossed the car towards her opponent... only for one of the dragon heads to catch it in its mouth and began crushing it into a twisted mess of metal. "Bingo." She smirked as she aimed her ring at the car…

...specifically, the gas tank.

**"WHY BOTHER CALLING OUT YOUR ATTACKS?!"** The Orange Lantern shouted... before she was blinded by an explosion caused by the red ring blowing up the car and her dragon head.... and Sunset heading right towards her! **"CLEVER BITCH!"** She shrieked as she leaped backwards, desperately hoping to put some distance between herself and her opponent until her constructs recovered.

Seeing her chance to hinder the both her opponent and beast via close combat, Sunset spun around in mid-air and kicked her into the prize booth. Not willing to let her recover Sunset bolted towards the Orange Lantern and slammed her left fist into her stomach before repeatedly punching her over and over….

…however as she did, she failed to notice that her fiery aura seem to be slowly dwindling away… and her punches were beginning to have less of an impact on their intended target...

**"GET! OFF! ME!"** The Orange Lantern shouted under the barrage of punches. Her Hydra quickly saw its master in trouble and two of the heads grabbed her by the arms. The creature just roared as the twin heads began slamming her into the ground repeatedly before a third one summoned up enough energy to blast her into a nearby building. It's duty done, it then let out a triumphant roar as it slowly faded back into it's mistress's ring. **"AND STAY AWAY FROM MY SHINIES! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO ONE TOUCHES THE SHINIES!"** She turned back towards them and began making sure they were untouched before flying off.

"GET BACK HERE AND GIVE UP THAT RING!" Sunset snapped as she burst out of the rubble.

"Well, someone's in a poor mood today...." She heard a familiar voice say, glancing to her right she saw the Green Guardian flying beside her. "Still craving more power I see...."

Sunset scowled under her mask. "Of course YOU would show up..."

"To ensure that you didn't go overboard and try to kill someone for their ring." Green Guardian replied.

Sunset just snorted in retaliation as she began looking around. "The psycho was just here and almost had her!" She yelled as she destroyed the rubble in front of her. "I couldn't care less about taking anyone's life." She stated firmly as she summoned a sword from her dragon arm, her aura began to intensify as crimson flames danced around the blade of her sword. "All I want is that ring!"

"And if the ring bearer won't give it?" The Guardian shot back with a glare. "Your blinding anger and hate is starting to get extremely tiresome. Have you ever considered going to a therapist or try talking out your problems?"

"Are you seriously trying to play psychoanalyst with me right now!?" Sunset fired back, her eyes glowing from underneath her helmet. "In case you haven't noticed, this ring bearer seems to be pretty content with tearing up the rest of the amusement park! So what was your plan for stopping them? Lull them to sleep with one of your lectures?!"

"My plan was to try and talk them down first without hurting anyone else. Not to blindly throw the first punch." Guardian shot back at her. "It's easier to deal with an enemy if they can be calmed down and reasoned with. But then that would imply trying to do something that isn't close to being a bully."

Under her mask Sunset’s eyes widened in fear when she mentioned the word “bully”... did she _know?_

*BOOM*

The two were forced to put their argument on hold as one of the attractions on the opposite end of the theme park went up in flames. “Look, can we continue this later!?”

"We could continue it on the way there-" Green Guardian started before Sunset took off towards the explosion. "Of course you'd rather avoid talking... that just makes you less angry doesn't it?" She grumbled to herself as she went towards the explosion site. “Teenagers….”

* * *

"There's three of them...." Twilight whispered as she continued to observe the battle from above. "There's _THREE of them_!" She shrieked before pulling out her notebook and writing at a rapid pace. "This changes SO much about my research!"

"You're surprisingly giddy considering the fact that _we're stuck in the crossfire_!" Flash groaned.

"But they're keeping the fight away from us, so I can study them from afar!" Twilight turned to face Flash with a positively giddy look on her face. "Do you have any idea how much research I could get done if I gather enough data on these people?!"

"Twi, I'm happy that you're making such a breakthrough, but I don't think we'll be out of harms way much longer!" The blue-haired guitarist exclaimed as they watched the two ring wielders make a beeline for the orange lantern's location...

* * *

The moment Sunset arrived, she found herself watching as the Haunted House attraction went up in flames. "Okay I hate jump-scares as much as the next guy, but seriously!?" She grumbled as an orange blur burst out of the roof. "You're not escaping this time!" She shouted before shooting straight towards the orange blur and grabbing her by the leg and yanking her down to the ground. "You think you can outrun ME?! Not a chance!" Sunset roared as she slammed her into the ground hard enough to cause a shockwave. "Now then. Mind giving me your ring?"

**"YOU WON'T TAKE MY THINGS!"** The orange lantern shouted as she tried to pick herself up, despite having just gotten the wind knocked out of her.

"What things?! What are you taking that's so damn precious?!" Sunset asked in a confused tone as she eyed her opponent's "treasures". Amongst most of the random objects were jewellery, Rings, necklaces, pretty much anything that had any something sparkly attached was in her "collection".... sadly the levels of the ring user's insanity were made a little clearer when Sunset recognize that a few of the jewels she took were actually props from some of the rides. _'Oh right... avarice equals greed.... good thing dragons don't exist in this world, Faust knows how hectic that would be...'_ She thought to herself.

**"How DARE you look at what's.... oh I see.... I SEE NOW! YOU'RE WANTING THEM FOR YOURSELF AREN'T YOU?!"** The ring wielder gasped as she picked herself up.

"So the ring basically gave you Gollum mentality?" Sunset asked as she tried to hold back on the laughter. "By the way, been meaning to ask... what's with the Luchador outfit? Did you just leave a Mucha Lucha binge or something?"

**"SAYS THE GROWN WOMAN CHILD DRESSED LIKE A FAKE LIZARD!"** The orange ring wielder shouted before she attempted to take off.

Unfortunately for her, her path was blocked by the Green Guardian. "To be fair, both of you look like something straight out of a comic book...." She sighed as she immediately summoned a straight-jacket around her body before she could react, completely restraining her. "But right now we don't have time for costume comparisons..."

**"YOU WANT MY THINGS TO?! YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE OTHER ONE!! I SHOULD PILE DRIVE YOUR ASS INTO THE GROUND!"** The wielder shouted as she tried getting free from the straight jacket and was actually beginning to do so with great haste.

Not wasting a second, Sunset immediately summoned a straight jacket construct as well, the only difference being hers seemed to be a lot more ironclad and restrictive. She immediately locked it over the Guardian's in an attempt to hold her down. "Make this easy on yourself El Psycho! Fork over the ring or-"

**"NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED WHAT IS MINE!"** She screamed as she let loose a powerful pulse of energy, before the two had a chance to recover, massive spikes emerged from her body and ripped through both straitjackets like a hot knife through butter.

"OH COME THE HELL ON!" Sunset yelled as she backed off from the spikes. "This has got to be some new form of bullshit! She's just _one_ Lantern! We outnumber her AND we're not nuts!"

'Oddly enough, she kind of has a point...' The Guardian thought to herself. 'When we were fighting against Pinkie the only reason she had the advantage was because her constructs were animatronics that were converted with her power, and in turn were much more durable... how is this one able to-'

But before she could finish thinking, their opponent immediately ripped apart the two straight jackets and glared at them... however what caught the Guardian's attention was what happened to the remains of those constructs, instead of completely dissipating, their remains seemed to slowly fade into the very uniform their opponent was wearing. 'Wait... is she-'

"You're not getting away this time!" Sunset yelled as she summoned a fiery aura around her body and charged at the greed-obsessed Lantern, slugging her across the face repeatedly, oblivious to the fact that each blow was barely hurting the Lantern...

“Crimson NO! She's-”

However before she could warn her, the Orange Lantern took another blow to the face… however this time she seemed to not even register the blow and she slowly turned her face towards Sunset… despite her fist still being planted firmly against her cheek. **“MY turn….”**

Before she could react, Sunset was slugged with enough force to send her flying through a Merry-Go-Round and crashing into the ticket booth, reducing it to rubble. "Ok… how is El Psycho this strong!?” She groaned as she shakily stood up….

“LOOK OUT!”

...and quickly leaped the left, just barely avoiding the large snake construct that devoured what was left of the ticket booth she'd crashed into.

**"You're supposed to stay still while my pet devours you!"** The wielder groaned as she redirected the snake at Sunset who put up a barrier.... that was devoured with ease. **"Please keep doing things like that! It makes sure my snakey-wakey is all good and fed!"**

_'Okay, this is just getting ASININE!'_ Sunset thought as she summoned the flaming sword and sliced off the serpent's head... which immediately proceeded to grow two more in it's place. _'Where's that damn Guardian when I need her!?'_

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed above the two, prompting both of them to look up. A massive green eagle descended upon the serpent and started repeatedly pecking at it. **"HEY! HEY STOP THAT YOU FEATHER BRAIN!"** The Orange Wielder shouted as she tried making the serpent bite back but each time was met by the bird dodging, and each dodge was then met by another peck. **"You're gonna regret this when my pet finally grabs you by the neck and eats you!"**

"My sincerest apologies, but my pet has no interest in becoming lunch..." The Guardian said as she descended to the ground behind her. The Orange wielder immediately turned around and attempted to attack her head on, only to be slammed into the ground buy a pile of bumper cars. "....and I can't exactly left you walk around with that ring given your mental instability." She stated as she summoned a large hand construct that preceded to force the pile down upon her, but at the same time kept itself slightly out of range to avoid direct contact and risk feeding her more energy.

"Wait so... she was EATING my Ring's energy?" Sunset whispered to herself. In that instance she flew backwards and landed next to the Green Guardian. "Okay so. Any plans to make sure she DOESN'T try to kill us both? Like... any at all?"

**"Y'know... it's very RUDE to talk about someone is if they're not there!"** The Orange Lantern growled as she struggled under the pile.

"Zip it!" Sunset fired back. "We'll deal with you in a moment El Psycho-"

**"Elegante!"**

The duo blinked. "Excuse you?"

**"My NAME is Diamante Elegante!"** She shouted as she continued to struggle. "Honestly if you're going to fight someone have the common decency of learning their name!”

"We actually asked a few times I think!" Sunset shouted back, knowing was a total lie but she had to get under this crazy girl's skin. "Now how about you just give up that stupid ring!"

**"As if.... YOU would be good enough for it you raging pig!"** Diamante growled as she got closer to freeing herself.

The Guardian narrowed her eyes as she observed her behavior. "You're surprisingly well-spoken for someone who was practically screaming "my precious" a few seconds ago..." She stated in a neutral tone, however as she got a better look at her, she noticed that the aura around her body was slowly fading away. 'Of course, keep her away from her treasure and the influence that ring has seems to die down a little, at least to the point where she can hold a conversation...'

And she applied a little more pressure to her hand construct to keep her down, she had a secondary construct form the words [Keep her distracted until she powers down] out of her line of sight, allowing Sunset to be clued in on her plan without giving anything away.

_'....odd request but alright.'_ Sunset thought to herself as she grabbed a empty car from nearby. "Need a cab to help you leave crazy town Diamante?!" Sunset chuckled as she slammed the car down on top of her.

Diamante gasped in pain as she felt the weight of a car slam down on top of the already a large pile of rubble she was practically buried under. Despite this however, she remained defiant and glared at Sunset. **"S-Seriously? That was-*cough*-the best one liner you could... c-come up with?"** She manage to gasp out.

"Oh? This coming from the bitch who looks like a discount Rey Mysterio?" Sunset sneered as she looked around for another object.

**"DISCOUNT!?"** Diamante repeated in an offended tone. **"At least I put effort into my uniform! You look like a Japanese Sentai reject!"**

"Not what I was going for, but at least it's working...." The Guardian mumbled under her breath as she watched the two ring wielders engaging the art of shit-talking. "Was I really this immature at their age?"

"Oh I'M the reject?! You ever hear of the 80s?! They want their stupid hair back!" Sunset spat as she grabbed another car. "And that's not even getting on the ridiculous color you have going on!"

The Guardian rolled her eyes under her mask as she stepped forward. "Alright, that's enou-AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!" She screamed as an agonizing pain shot through her left leg, and she felt her energy start to drain away.

Sunset immediately turned her attention away from the Diamante and was met with a disturbing sight: the head of an orange Cobra construct had shot out of the ground and something its fangs into the Guardian's leg! Another agonized screech caught her attention, the source of said scream being the Guardian's eagle construct, who had been impaled through the back by another cobra construct emerging from the ground, it was then that she noticed the tail of the snake construct they were fighting before had managed to sneak into a nearby sewer pipe. "CLEVER BITCH!" She snapped before taking off into the air right before two more snakes burst out of the ground where she stood.

**"What? Did you really think I wouldn't notice you were trying to distract me?"** Diamante chuckled mockingly and she let loose a burst of energy from her body, sending all the bumper cars and debris flying in random directions.

"Well considering how nuts you were five minutes ago? Yeah it was a good chance." Sunset growled as she looked for something to slam on her again. "Now how about you be a good little nutjob and just LOSE alrea-"

However before she could finish her sentence another orange snake pierced her wings and wrapped itself around her. Pinning her to the ground. **"You seem to be under the illusion that you hold the upper hand here..."** Diamante chuckled as several more snakes shout out of the ground around the Green Guardian and proceeded to coil around her arms and legs, draining her of her energy at a quicker pace. **"Sorry to disappoint you, but you are the ones who are outmatched here!"** At first Diamante looked like she was going towards the Green Guardian... maybe to finish the job of her pet snake.... but then Sunset noticed she seemed more interested in getting back to her "treasure". **"Well dears. It's been SUPER fun but I have my things and I MUST get going. It's been an.... experience."** As she approached her treasure however, Diamante took a moment to properly observe her treasure, at first she was proud of the large amount of jewelry she'd managed to hoard, until she realized a large amount of them were actually fake. **"Ugh, counterfeit jewelry? What the heck was I thinking!?"** She grumbled to herself as she started carefully separating the props from the real jewelry. **"I want genuine jewelry, not this... trash!"**

".....I can't believe she's going to take her sweet ass time doing this." Sunset groaned as she tried getting up. "I don't suppose you have a back up plan? Or just any actual _back up_ coming?"

"I do... and they should be here soon." The Green Guardian groaned as the snake hissed viciously at her.

However just as she was about to begin sorting through her treasure, she felt that something was... off... she quickly turned around and summoned a whip in order to deflect several blue chains that attempted to ensnare her. **"Who dares-"**

**"I DO COWARD!"** A loud commanding voice yelled as a blue figure slammed to the ground and launched hundreds of wooden planks at Diamante. Keeping her pinned without touching her.... which she was finding INCREASINGLY annoying. The source of these chains descended from the skies, revealing itself to be another ring wielder:

This one was covered in detailed azure armor, resembling that of a Knight with a flowing cape and the symbol on her ring was on full display on both her shoulders, however it's figure was unmistakably female. Her helmet had two sets of fins resembling bat-like wings on on the sides and a curved horn protruding from the front. She had long flowing dark blue hair and behind her visor two glowing light-blue eyes were visible.

**"It's a pity, I had hoped to make a more grandiose entrance when it came time for my debut...."** The newcomer stated as she landed beside Sunset and the Green Guardian, without so much as turning her attention away from their opponent she summoned a katana in her free hand and casually sliced through each of the serpents binding them. **"...but this will have to do."**

**"....NOPE."** Diamante said as she grabbed the real gems and tried to fly off. **"I AM SORRY BUT I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO DEAL WITH YOU LOT RIGHT NOW! MAYBE WE CAN DO THIS ANOTHER DAY!"**

**"Too bad for you..."** The Azure warrior stated firmly as she summoned another chain construct and shot it straight at her ankle, upon contact it immediately morphed into a sort of leg brace and clamped onto her, yanking her back. **"You've caused an abundance of damage to this theme park in put many lives in danger, that you must answer for."**

_'She'll be doing more than answering when I'm done with her!'_ Sunset thought to herself as she slowly picked herself up.

***Ba-Dum***

**"Oh thanks for the boost!"** Diamante smiled as her body absorbed the construct and added it's power however temporary to her ring. Boosting her low power and took to the skies. **"Once again I must bid you adieu mon amie. It's been fun!"**

"HEY EL PSYCHO!"

Diamante only had time to look up as she saw Sunset, who'd used the temporary distraction provided by the newcomer to grab the remains of a nearby pendulum ride that had been thrashed in their scuffle. "BATTER UP!" She shouted before swinging it at the dumbfounded ring wielder like a baseball bat.

**"Oh good lord!"** Diamond shrieked as she made nosedive, just narrowly dodging the incoming ride. Unfortunately, Sunset didn't have as tight a grip on it as she thought, the ride ended up being accidentally flung out of her grip and into a nearby ferris wheel, causing it to collapse.

"Oh.... shit."

* * *

Back inside the collapsing ferris wheel, Twilight could only scream as she the floor became slanted. "Oh god oh god oh god this was a bad idea!" She shouted as they started to slide down towards the door.

Thinking fast Flash planted his feet firmly against the wall, being careful enough not to touch the window. "Just try to stay calm!" Flash said as he held Twilight close, who proceeded to mimic his actions.

"How are we supposed to stay calm!? We're one wrong move away from dying!" Twilight gasped as she remained perfectly still, afraid that one wrong move could send her falling out the window.

Flash glanced over his shoulder out the window and noticed three of the four ring wielders circling the the ride. "Look, whoever those girls are, they're obviously trying to keep us from falling, we just need to stay perfectly still... and someone who used to be terrified of heights I highly recommend that you don't. look. down."

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded, trying her best to remain as calm as possible. "Wait, you're scared of heights?!"

"Emphasis on _used to be!_ "

* * *

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The Green Guardian shouted as she summoned a giant hand construct to catch the ferris wheel, but the drainage from fighting the Orange Lantern was more than she expected and the construct was taking all it could to hold it up due to its weight.

"Hey! I was aiming at the psychopathic kleptomaniac! It's not my fault she dodged!" Sunset retorted as she flew to the opposite side of the ferris wheel and morphed her wings into various hooked chains, she then launched them at various points on the ferris wheel and locked them into place, pulling as hard as she could in an attempt to keep it from toppling over.

***Ba-Dum***

"But maybe if you paid attention to WHERE you were and WHAT you grabbed maybe this wouldn't have happened!" The Guardian snapped back.

"Oh don't even start acting like this is all somehow my fault! What did you forget who started tearing up the amusement park in the first place?!" Sunset fired back as she continued to pull.

**"SILENCE!"** The Azure Knight shouted in a commanding tone, getting both Lanterns attention. **"Right now is not the time to argue! There are civilians in need of rescuing, and the two of you bickering will not get the situation resolved safely!"**

"Fine! God, it's not like I started it anyways." Sunset sneered as she tried to keep her grip tight though the fight with the Orange Lantern also had drained more from her then she cared to admit. The Azure Knight began getting to work letting people off as fast as she could.

To their collective surprise, the Orange Lantern was taking a... small amount of her time to do so, grumbling a bit with hints of 'should just go.' under her breath.

***Ba-Dum***

_'Why the hell should I care?'_ Sunset mentally asked herself as she continued to pull. _'All I need is the ring!'_ She glanced down at Diamante who was trying to hold up the lower part of the ferris wheel which several constructs in the form of car-sized spiders, each one wrapping its webs around the unstable parts in an attempt to keep it from breaking apart.

***Ba-Dum***

_'She's right. there. The other two are busy saving people, I'm can just take it and go!'_ She told herself, her focus momentarily lapsed and the ferris wheel begin to topple over once more, yanking her forward. A feeling of dread quickly eclipsed her desire for power as she fired several more hooks chains from her dragon arm, just barely pulling it back into place. _'I'm so close! There's no better time! I could take the ring and just leave! It's power could be mine!'_

***Ba-Dum***

_ [Ring Power at 35%] _

***Ba-Dum***

_'So why am I still here!?'_

_ [Ring Power at 30%] _

_'Come on! It.... it's not like....... this whole ferris wheel thing is your fault...... except that...... ah son of a bitch.'_ Sunset mentally groaned.... realizing that despite her attempt to rationalize it she was responsible for this..... and in her haste she nearly killed innocent people. _'Okay.... okay don't focus on-'_

***Ba-Dum***

_'OKAY WHAT IS MAKING THAT SOUND?!'_

***Ba-Dum Ba-Dum, Ba-Dum Ba-Dum***

Sunset gritted her teeth as that sound became more prominent and rapid, whatever it was, it seemed to be weakening her, not only did she feel herself slowly being yanked forward by weight of the ferris wheel, but small cracks were beginning to spread over the chains coming from her wings.

Desperately trying to catch her breath, she held her left hand over her chest...

...then it hit her: the sound was basically her own heart!

_[Ring Power at 25%. Warning: Continuous use without recharging shall result in the expiration of the wielder's lifeforce.]_

_'.... what did.... i-is this damn thing tied to my HEART?!'_ Sunset thought with a fevered panicking. _'O-oh dear god.... I-I'm dying..... I wasted all that energy........ oh god I was so STUPID.'_

However, just as her chains were about to break, a pillar of blue light erupted from the bottom of the ferris wheel... and from within that pillar a commanding voice began to chant:

** "My power, neither green nor red,  
Shall lead your soul away from dread,  
To heal the deepest wounds of hate,  
Let Hope shine forth and choose your fate!" **

As if it's bonding to the blue light's power, the green hand that was holding up the ferris wheel suddenly morphed into a blossoming flower, and a secondary pillar of green energy erupted from the Guardian's location, who preceded to chant in response:

“In brightest day, in darkest night,  
All evil falls before our might,  
To those who dare challenge what right,  
Beware our power, Green Lantern’s light!”

The energy from the blue light immediately flowed into the center of the flower, both powers combining into one as various vines spread across the ferris wheel, wrapping around each and every unstable part while at the same time creating a safe passageway from the occupied parts of the ride.

* * *

Twilight and Flash could only watch in awe as the green and blue vines gently opened the doors and manifested whet appeared to be a stairway leading to a singular bridge over the ruins of several rides and straight t the park exit. Flash was the first to take a step forward, pressing his right foot onto the surface. "It's solid..." He smiled before turning his attention to Twilight, who was shivering while holding her bags. "It's ok,we're safe now..." he said, giving her a reassuring smile as he held out his hand.

Twilight, while hesitant at first, slowly each out to Flash and took his hand, allowing him to slowly escort her down the stairs...

* * *

As Sunset’s chain constructs finally faded away, the entire ferris wheel was soon engulfed in a blue and green construct in the form of a massive tree… as if nature herself had come to humanities aid.

_'And... on that melancholic note I have to.... wait-'_

"WHERE'S THE ORANGE JERK?!" Sunset roared as she looked around after the last occupant left. "SHE WAS RIGHT HERE! DID EITHER OF YOU SEE WHERE SHE WENT?!"

**"Apparently she decided to make herself scarce..."** The Azure Knight commented as she turned her attention to Sunset. **"And by the looks of it, you'd best do the same..."**

"What do you mean-"

_ [Ring Power at 15%] _

"Okay yeah I'm leaving. Thank you both." Sunset said very quickly and zoomed off. "CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAAAAAAP!" She screamed the entire time as she zipped through the city, desperately searching for a secluded area. "N-need to do the Oath. Not dying today!" Sunset panted as she landed in a nearby alleyway just as their armor began to dissipate. "Okay, okay. I can make it... I can-" Sunset gasped as her helmet vanished as she fell to her knees, her vision becoming blurry as it became hard for her to breathe."NO! I can't fall here! I WON'T let it end here!" She gasped as she she channeled most of her energy into the ring, summoning her power battery.

"In Vengeful Day, in Hateful Night,  
Let those who wronged me fear my might.  
All those who oppose truest hate,  
Shall see my ring and seal their fate!"

At that last part her ring became fully charged and Sunset gasped a sigh of relief. "O-oh thank God... for a sec.... I thought I was done for.... okay good to note. Your power ring can kill you if you're using it too much..... joy. I wonder how many times I nearly died just throwing crap out?" She managed to gasp out as her uniform reverted back to her civilian attire, taking a moment to collect herself. "Okay so… the Orange and Blue Ones are ALSO a no-go.... great…” She whispered to herself as she made her way down the alley.

She had a _lot_ to think about....

* * *

"You know, usually when people say their dates were "eventful", I doubt they mean something of this magnitude..." Flash said as they were escorted out of the park alongside many other civilians, each of them looking just as shaken up by the events as they were.

However Twilight was much more terrified and ashamed then she let on.... that power that was on display..... the danger they were just in..... the danger..... she put Flash Sentry in... for the sake of her research. "....Flash I have to leave after we get out of here."

"Yeah... I don't suppose I could walk you home?" Flash offered with a concerned look on his face, mistaking Twilight's look of shame for her simply being in a state of shock due to the events that had transpired.

"NO! No I-I.... I can walk myself back. Thanks though." She said quickly as they walked onwards. "I-I somewhat enjoyed our time together but um..... u-u-um....." She stammered as she tried to avoid eye contact, but eventually broke down. "....Flash, I'm so, so sorry...."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't know this would happen." Flash tried to comfort her but she simply turned away. "Twilight it's fine. We're okay. Everyone else is okay. How would you have known they were coming here?"

"I... I guess I couldn't..." She whispered, still not making eye contact. "But still, I dragged you here to gather data, if I'd just gone by myself you at least wouldn't have been in the crossfire-"

"And you would have ended up in danger anyway." Flash interrupted, turning her around to face him. "I'm not about to blame you for something that you couldn't possibly have predicted or prevented, so please, don't blame yourself."

And the moment he said that.... it was as if a light bulb went off inside Twilight's head. A new theory to be tested and studied. ".... Flash you're absolutely right."

"I know... now come on let's get you-"

"INEEDTOGETTOMYLAB!" She shouted quickly as she broke into a mad dash towards the nearest bus stop. "THANKS FOR THE IDEA FLASH, I'LL CALL YOU!!" She shouted over her shoulder to the baffled end downright confused guitar player.

"I-um.... okay then...?" He stammered, honestly at a loss for words as to what to make of her sudden change in attitude.

Twilight barely registered his voice as she sprinted towards her destination, a gleam of inspiration in her eyes. _'I've been going about this all wrong! I have all the data and resources I need! Why simply monitor and study their powers... when I can REPLICATE them!'_

* * *

Back in the parts of the city that were still under construction, the Green Guardian and Azure Knight landed at the top of one of the buildings. "While I can't say I didn't appreciate your help..... I can't help but feel like you took your time getting there." The Green Guardian told her ally with a playful smile. "I mean it can't be because you were..... seeing someone was it?"

While her face wasn't completely visible, the Azure Knight was blushing under her visor. **"W-what I do in my spare time is none of your concern!"** She stated in a embarrassed tone. **"B-besides. We have bigger issues to focus on."**

"Of course...." The Guardian said with a chuckle. "B-but no, I know what you mean and I agree. This new Orange ring bearer is quite.... dangerous, but on a plus side she seems to burn through it fast."

**"True, but the fact that they got away with this power means they'll be less likely to be as.... sloppy in their next endeavor, whenever or whatever that may be..."** The Knight stated, regaining her composure. **"It's bad enough that we have no idea where the yellow ring flew off to... and that Crimson Dragon is still a bit of a wildcard..."**

"The Orange one only seems to be the "planning ahead" type when her energy is low... at full power however she's much less composed." The Guardian explained. "But considering everything.... we should be careful still...."

**"Agreed."** The Knight nodded as she stretched her arms before turning her attention to the moon. **"I only wish we had more to go on-"**

"So how did your dates go anyway?" The Guardian smirked, catching the Knight off-guard.

**"Are you seriously-"** The Knight inhaled deeply to calm herself. **"I'll have you know HE was nice enough to reschedule our... "get-together" when I had to leave. His.... comrade just happened to be present as well...."**

"Don't try to cover it up, I KNOW for a fact you're into polygamy.... so when's the wedding?" The Guardian giggled before taking off as she chased by her azure ally.

**"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!"** The Knight snapped as she flew off after her as well.

* * *

The Orange Lantern groaned as she slowly descended to her home, the loot behind her almost falling out due to the energy drain.... but the worst part in her mind was..... where was she going to hide it from prying eyes? It was her stuff and.... well it was a rather impressive loot haul.

After thinking for a moment she slowly opened the window to her room and silently levitated her horde inside before gently setting it down on her bed. Looking around as she entered the room herself, she opened her closet door and places as many of her valuables that she could inside, hiding them behind her various dresses. What was left was quickly placed under her bed and hidden behind her vast assortment of shoes.

"Sis? Sis are you home?" A younger voice called out.

Diamante immediately froze, thinking quickly she yanked off her ring and shoved it into her bag, her entire outfit dissipating into thin air in an instant just as the door began to open.

“Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked as she entered, only to be greeted by the site of her elder sister looking like she just run a marathon. “Are… are you ok?”

"Yes..... sorry dear just.... not feeling really well today." Rarity groaned as she sat down on the bed. "I stayed out later then I needed to and my body is making me regret it."

"But.... I didn't even hear you come in...." She mumbled as she entered the room. "And what happened out there? The news reports are all saying the entire theme park was totaled!"

"I-I don't know dear. Please don't talk too loudly." Rarity groaned as she looked at her sister. She tried smiling at her. "I'm really sorry to hear about the theme park. I know you really wanted to go there tomorrow dear."

Sweetie Belle looked down in disappointment. "Yeah.... it was gonna be a surprise for when Scootaloo got out of the hospital...." She mumbled.

"Oh darling..... I'm sure you can find something that's just as fun for her." Rarity said as she hugged her sister. However for a split second, a sharp pain shot through Rarity's mind as an image of the Ring's icon flashed across her eyes. _'She seems so scared..... so fragile...... she needs to be guarded..... she's MY little sister..... **MINE**.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Ring user makes her appearance!


	8. Fanning the Flames

Back at the construction site, the Dazzlings inhaled deeply as they felt a rush of energy flow through them. Their gems crackled with energy once more as whisps of crimson mist rose from the puddle of rage and into their gems.

"Mmm~, now that feels invigorating!" Adagio sighed as she walked away from the puddle along with her sisters. "With this, we'll have more than enough strength to sing more frequently now!"

"Eh, feels kinda gross to do it from a puddle like that." Sonata said with a shiver. "I mean it looked a bit like blood.... don't either of you find that disgusting? Just a _liiiittle_ bit?"

"Sometimes you've gotta get a little down and dirty to get the results you want," Adagio stated as she turned around placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You've been alive long enough to know that, Sonata."

"Yeah, I know…" She sighed in response. "It's just-"

"Enough chit-chat!" Aria scoffed as she brushed past the two. "We've got more power now, so all that's left is to hypnotize one of those ring users, right?"

"Yep, the question is: who do we pick? I'd say that Crimson Dragon but… she's a bit spicy under the collar." Adagio said as she sat on one of the few benches that were still in-tact.

"What about the Green Girl?" Sonata interjected. "She seems pretty powerful. I mean, we all saw how she rag-dolled the red one..."

"That's actually the reason why we _shouldn't_ go after her. Unlike that Dragon chick, she's actually pretty level-headed." Aria retorted casually. "If she's _that_ powerful, then we run the risk of her turning that power on _us_ if we fail to make her submit completely... plus there's the blue one that showed up recently..."

"Hm, this is limiting our options..." Adagio said as she fiddled with her gem.

".... well there's the Mandarian Orange Slice Psycho that came through," Sonata added, prompting both sisters to give her confused looks.

"...who?"

Sonata quickly pulled out her phone and showed her sisters a blurred photo of Diamante Elegante. "This one! A few civilians posted how this one was pretty smart when it came to fighting the Green and Red ones... but she sort went loopy after a while and started grabbing random trinkets, claiming they were her _"precious treasures"_ or something." She explained that she flipped through a few other photos that were taken from a distance.

"Single-minded people _are_ the easiest to twist… yeah, she's a pretty damn perfect target." Adagio said with a dark chuckle. "And besides her ring _REALLY_ looks shiny~."

"Say what?" Aria blinked.

"Strong, I mean." Adagio corrected herself. "After all, she was able to take on three-ring users at once... now there's just the method of finding her..."

"Hm... is there anything of hers that she left behind?" Sonata asked as she kicked her feet up and down a bit. "Like.... call me a bit old fashioned but uh... why not 'sniff' her out or something?"

Adagio fiddled with her necklace a little, considering the option. "Well, we have absorbed a good amount of power to seek out negative emotions like we used to... it wouldn't hurt to snoop around the site of their last battle and see what we can find..."

"Well color me impressed, Sonata actually had a good idea for once." Aria smirked.

"HEY! I have plenty of good ideas! You guys just don't listen to them!" Sonata said with a pout. "Maybe they're better than you give them-"

"Do not push your luck," Aria said with a look.

"Yeah, fair enough, sorry," Sonata said with a chuckle.

"So it's settled," Adagio stated, getting back to the subject at hand. "Starting tomorrow we'll focus our efforts on finding the orange ring user first."

"Ugh, we're not going back to that lousy hotel are we?" Aria moaned as she got up, only to notice for eldest sister giving her a sly smirk.

"Actually, I was thinking we could treat ourselves to a more... lavish lifestyle..."

* * *

"Okay. I'm not doing this anymore. None of this "waiting until later" crap." Sunset snarled as she sat down in her bedroom and glared at her ring. "I want... FULL details on what you are... if you can understand me."

For a moment her ring did not respond, however, the symbol seemed to emit a faint glow for a few seconds.... suddenly, a bigger transparent image of the symbol appeared in front of her face.

_[You wish for knowledge of this Rings origin, is that correct?]_

"Well yeah! Or at least where you came from and who made you, if you can't even do that!" She snapped at it, frustrated more than anything at the moment.

Less than a second after she had said that however, a bolt of crimson lightning should out from the ring and struck her between the eyes... knocking her unconscious...

* * *

Sunset groaned as she woke up, picking herself up off the ground and massaging her temples. "Owww... what the hell-" She began, only to notice that her surroundings were completely different, she found herself standing atop a stone platform surrounded by crimson flames and magma. "...where the hell am I!?"

**_WELCOME TO RYUT, YOUNG RED LANTERN. MY RING HAS DETECTED A HIGH AMOUNT OF RAGE WITHIN YOU._** A deep and booming voice said as the rocks, lava, and darkness began trying to create a form. **_THE VOICE YOU HEAR IS THAT OF YOUR LORD AND RULER ATROCITUS... THE FIRST RED LANTERN... HE WHO HAS MASTERED HIS ANGER AND RAGE._**

Sunset felt a chill go down her spine as she turned around, finding herself staring up at a massive hulking figure, flames circling his body as the Red Lantern symbol shined behind him. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but draw some comparison to that of her old mentor when she truly let loose the full extent of her power...

**_What of our proud and sorrowful legacy do you wish to know, recruit?_** The figure said as the fires around him and she blazed evermore, the heat intensifying somehow.

It took Sunset a moment to find her voice as she stumbled backward, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead as she tried to calm herself. _'Out of all the ways the ring could show me its history, did it have to make it look like I've been dragged down to Tartarus to be judged!?'_ Taking a deep breath, Sunset tried her best to remain as composed as possible. "I want to... I want to know everything." She started firmly. "Where this ring came from... and why it chose me."

The figure smirked as it then held out both hands, Sunset looked around herself as the scene shifted to... a village that she could only describe as "futuristically tribal". _'Is... is this his home planet?'_ She thought to herself as she observed the red landscape.

_**This.... was once my beloved home. Ryut. My people knew of war and fighting. All people know of these things. But we were not as vicious as others in our sector... we were a simple people.**_ The voice said as insectoid like figures started to appear on the surface of the planet. While vicious-looking their eyes held compassion and peace within them.

_'How could a ring that utilizes the power of Rage have a beginning as... docile as this?'_ Sunset thought to herself... and as if reading her thoughts, the world around her begin to shift and change once more...

**_And then the Guardians of The Universe sent their.... accursed machines. The Manhunters... supposed protectors of Law and Order._** The voice said with an utter animalistic growl about it, something that chilled Sunset to the bone. Machines with red and blue markings on them descended upon Ryut and their faces were as emotionless as a corpse, frozen on one setting, a frozen stare of apathy. **_These things were unneeded. Unnecessary... our children made their displeasure about them was known in mundane ways as all young ones do.... but it was that attitude that would soon doom our planet._**

The scene shifted once more, and Sunset could only back away in horror as she saw the entire village alit with flames, alien families desperately trying to flee from the burning remains of their former home as the Manhunters cut down anyone who dared to oppose them.

**[RESISTANCE IS USELESS. NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS.]** One of them droned before aiming its staff at a mother and her child before blasting them and turning them into ashes. Sunset could only try and force the vomit in her throat to stay down. **[DISORDER AND CHAOS SHALL BE REIGNED IN. SUPPRESSED AND CONTAINED. ONLY ORDER AND PEACE SHALL REMAIN.]**

Sunset backed away, her entire body trembling as she witnessed the mass slaughter before her. Part of her couldn't help it compare it to the destruction the city had endured after the arrival of the Black Lanterns. Her only comforting thought being that no corpses were rising from the dead...

Until she saw one bundle moving… there was someone under the pile and they were still breathing! My only cold empty solace was that I had somehow survived. The voice said as a claw emerged from the pile... only for the alien looked around at the destruction around him... and seeing a female of his species and two younglings with her dead... almost ashen. But my home..... my people.... my own family.... they were all dead.... murdered by these machines. It said as the creature gave an unholy shriek of mourning and sorrow.

The scene shifted again as the lone survivor was surrounded by flames and the remains of his village faded away. Four pillars of crimson fire erupted from the ground behind him as he stood tall, the symbol of the Red Lantern appearing on his chest, and out of the four pillars stepped four aliens, each one with a body structure that raised several questions for Sunset (one of them had a giant mouth on its chest.... just... HOW!?).

**_I was then met by.... what you may call my first team. They recruited me as they had also lost their people to The Manhunters. Each one just itching to pay them back._** The figure said as he and the others soon left, the symbol leaving him for now as he traveled the cosmos. Arming themselves with tech meaning to combat and repel The Guardians forces. Left and right she saw them destroying and crippling the robots with equal points pure rage and pure joy... not that she could blame them. **_With each mission, we became more and more infamous. Eventually, we were given a name. The Five Inversions for we were chaotic and lawless. Yet unlike The Guardians and their machines, we never attacked an innocent planet. Never butchered families.... but we eventually were met by a new force from them.... one I found out quickly was worth my respect.... and my contempt._**

Sunset was tempted to ask who he was referring to, only for the area around her to vanish... and a very familiar symbol started to form in front of her, one she herself held in contempt:

The symbol of the Green Guardian.

* * *

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

However, just before the voice could go any further she heard a knocking on the door. Almost as if it also heard the knocking the ring shut down the whole simulation and dropped Sunset back to where she was. "Wait what the... oh come on! You can't leave me like that! Talk about a crappy cliffhanger!"

"Sunset...? Dinner is ready." She heard her mother call out. "Also, Sunburst is going to drop by tonight, I was hoping maybe we could all eat together... for once..." She continued, though Sunset could easily pick up the uncertainty in her voice.

"....ugh, fine. I guess I'll come down." Sunset grumbled as she got up. "Just don't expect much conversation from me. I'm not in the mood today."

"O-okay dear... and just.... just know that I love-"

"I know mom." She started, cutting her off as she brushed past her and made her way downstairs. _'Save it for Sunburst. At least then you'll actually_ **mean** _it..'_ She thought to herself.

She soon arrived in the dining room for the first time in ages.... and saw just how nice it all really looked. She saw the food laid out as though it was fit for a family get together. She looked at her dad who set the table and cooked some of it. "I um... I know you're a bit more vegan now than you once were but... I do hope I cooked your favorites just right." He said with a worried look on his face... as if afraid his cooking will make her leave again.

_'Right, because the_ food _is the reason I left, not being in the shadow of my own sibling and barely being noticed-'_ Sunset halted her train of thought and took a deep breath, calming herself while taking a brief glance at her ring to make sure it hadn't reacted. _'Just roll with it, the less drama there is, the quicker this dinner can end.'_

"It's fine dad, thank you..." She stated in a neutral tone as she sat down. "So what time did Sunburst say he was going to show-"

"Right now." A familiar voice said, causing Sunset to growl on instinct. Slowly she turned around and low and behold. The REAL prodigal son had finally arrived. "Well. Surprised to see you join us for lunch. Didn't think you would actually show up what with you loving your personal brooding sessions."

Sunset tensed up as she glanced over her shoulder, less than happy to see her brother. _'This dinner is_ **not** _going to go smoothly, is it?'_

* * *

"NO!" Twilight shouted in his frustration as the device caught fire for the 15th time. "For the love, of-what am I missing here!?" She groaned as she quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher. She tried putting out the fire on her device as fast as possible, though thankfully the device was undamaged. Spraying wildly she heard some footsteps heading her way.... and then a knock.

"Hey, Twilight... can you PLEASE not set the house on fire this time?" She heard her brother ask.

"Wh-who said I had a fire going on?!" She stammered nervously. "Everything's fine!"

"Your hand-made smoke detector says otherwise."

Twilight chuckled nervously as she quickly opened the window, hoping to air out her lab. "It's just a minor setback! I've almost gotten the design just right, I can feel it!"

"Didn't you say that the past 14 times you've done this experiment?" Her brother asked with a heavy groan. "Seriously, it's almost time for dinner. Come on. Your food is gonna get cold."

Twilight groaned got this. "Oh come on, all I need is a few extra-"

"Did I mention we're having fried chicken tonight?"

_*ZIP*_

Less than a second after he'd said that a purple blur immediately darted out of the room and towards the kitchen, leaving a spinning chair and several discarded blueprints in her wake.

"Knew that would get her attention." Shining Armor chuckled as he started to head downstairs to join the others. Twilight already seated and waiting for the rest of the food. "Now all of a sudden you're hungry sis?"

Twilight blushed. "W-Well it's not like I can conduct research on an empty stomach!" She hastily defended herself, adjusting her glasses. "Besides, that was any later you probably would have chowed down on most of it..."

"Uh-huh. _Sure_ I would."

"Oh come on Shining give me a little bit of credit!" Twilight said with an embarrassed blush. "I-I mean I know how I can get, but I have better self-control now!"

"Sis, if there are two things you've inherited from our dad, it's his OCD and his ridiculous appetite," Shining smirked as he sat down.

"I heard that young man!" They heard their father call out from the kitchen, followed by their mother's voice.

"Doesn't make it UN-true, honey!"

Twilight just blushed harder as their parents began finishing up supper. "So what kinda magic goober are you making?" Shining asked, trying to make small-talk as they waited.

Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance. "It's not a "magic goober", Shining. It's meant to detect the energy signatures that have been popping up all over the city." She started firmly. "And if I fine-tune it properly, I'll be able to study them from a distance."

"Oooh. So it's a magic gizmo." Shining said with a smile, knowing that calling it either thing got under her skin.

"It's NOT a gizmo! It's… you're doing it again aren't you?" She asked with a glare.

Shining gave her a coy grin. "What can I say? You're just adorable when you get mad, especially with that little pouty face of yours."

Twilight crossed her arms, unamused. "Y'know Shining, sometimes you are just-"

* * *

"UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!!" Sunset snapped as she stormed out of the dining room with a livid expression on her face.

"S-Sunset come back please!" Her mother yelped as she tried chasing after her. "Look, I know what Sunburst said hurt your feelings but please-"

"Oh for the love of-mom will you _stop apologizing_!?" Sunburst called out as he exited the dining room as well. "You've been letting her push you around ever since she tried running away! It's about time you put your foot down!"

"Oh yes the proud son who had everything spoon-fed to him has a TON of balls yelling that at me!" Sunset snarled as she stormed up the stairs. "You know what?! I'm going for a fucking walk! And maybe by the time I get back, I'll have a brother who isn't breathing down my neck!" Sunset said as she began getting dressed for a walk. Her mother whimpered and backed off... but not Sunburst.

"Maybe I'll stop breathing down your neck when you stop insulting our parents! You ran and never came back Sunset! You vanished for all we knew and then suddenly come back with this attitude of self-righteousness!" Sunburst snapped as Sunset slammed her door shut. "God above I regret ever taking your side when you first came back because now you've got a fucking ego the size of your school!"

Sunset clenched her fists as her ring started to spark and release a few small pulses of energy. She glared at the door, contemplating whether or not she should blast it off its hinges before biting her lip and taking a deep breath. _'Not worth the energy...'_ She told herself. Reaching into her closet she pulled out her leather jacket and quickly stormed out of her room. "Tell you what bro, you spend half of your _entire childhood_ trying to claw your way out of someone's shadow just because you think you have to _EARN_ your parents love, then talk to me about self-righteousness!" She snapped as she pushed past him.

"And what happens when I come back and when our parents beg and ask for forgiveness for the past two years but I refuse to even entertain that idea?! Do I just become as abusive as you're being right now?!" Sunburst snapped back before scoffing and going to his room... not even FLINCHING when Sunset looked like she wanted to storm back up and DECK him.

Sunset felt another pulse of rage nearly erupt from her ring and just barely managed to surpass it. Deciding to leave before she did something she'd regret, she immediately barged through the front door and slammed it hard enough to shake the house.

"Selfish brown-nosing asshat... thinks he's got any right to talk to me.... treat me like that. I deserve better." Sunset snarled as she continued marching off, the only sounds accompanying her being whatever cars were riding down the streets and her own feet hitting the pavement and whatever cans she could kick along the way.

As Sunset rounded a corner, she was so lost in her own thoughts that she ended up bumping into a girl with light purple skin and dark purple pigtails with turquoise highlights. "Hey watch where you're going!"

"Why don't you learn to stand out of my fucking way!" Sunset snarled as she walked past her, but not before using her shoulder to roughly shove her aside. "I swear more and more people think they just own the damn sidewalks."

"Excuse you!?" She fired back as she dropped her bag, looking ready to throw a punch. "You wanna say that to my face, bacon hair?"

Sunset stopped walking and glared at the girl over her shoulder. "The fuck did you just call me?!" She growled, gritting her teeth as a small spark escaped her ring.

"I called you "bacon hair"! You deaf as well as stupid bitch?!" The girl snarled at Sunset. "You wanna go then let's go! I got all night!"

Sunset turned around, giving her the mother of all death glares. "You _really_ wanna test me, pigtails?!" She fired back as she turned around and began storming towards her, more than eager to let off some steam.

"ARIA!" A voice called out. Before Sunset could get closer, a girl with blue skin and deep blue hair with a ponytail rushed out of the building right between the two carrying several bags. "I just got a call from Adagio, she needs us uptown immediately!" She stated, completely ignoring Sunset.

"Ugh! You are SO DAMN LUCKY bacon hair!" Aria snarled as she left with her sister. "This had better be important Sonata! I was getting a damn feeding buffet back there."

Sunset took a moment to wait until they have turned a corner... then promptly slammed her fist into a nearby stop sign. The end result was a shock wave of rage completely demolishing it. Not satisfied however, she promptly ran into an abandoned alleyway and called upon the Rings power. A few seconds later she was flying towards the mountains as the Crimson Dragon.

She had some stress to relieve.

* * *

"-and then Indigo was acting all hot-headed again but well... Sour just wasn't having it." Shining said with a sigh as they enjoyed their supper. "Anyways that was my day breaking up a fight."

"What is it, the fifth time this month?" Twilight Velvet sighed as she took a bite out of her drumstick.

"Sixth actually," Shining replied.

"Honestly, you should really see Principal Cinch about having those two put in some sort of anger management class, because this is getting ridiculous." Night Light stated, munching on his salad.

"I was going to but I had other things going on. Besides, she dismissed it as just "teen antics"." Shining said as he finished his plate. "I mean, she seems to have some good intentions but I dunno. Something seems off."

Twilight, on the other hand, was only partly listening to the conversation, casually picking at her mashed potatoes as she thought about how far she had progressed since she had started studying the energy output of the rings...

_'...and yet I've only just scratched the surface...'_ She thought to herself as she unconsciously traced the shape of the red rings icon into her food. _'I know there has to be a way for me to properly siphon the energy if I get close enough... but then there comes the main issue of replicating such power... do I even have the right amount of devices to pull that off?'_

**_ [BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.] _ **

"...Twilight, what was that?" Shining asked as he turned to face his sister whose face was now suddenly beet red. "You said you didn't have anything going on right now."

"I... may have left the scanner on by accident..." Twilight giggled nervously as she quickly got out of her seat. "I'll be right back, I promise!" She shouted over her shoulder as she rushed back to her lab. "AND DON'T TOUCH MY FOOD DAD!" She added.

"I have _no idea_ what she means." Night Light tried to say with a straight face. Though his hand betrayed him as he reached for a stray chicken leg… only for Velvet smack his hand with her spoon. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Eat what's on _your own plate_ , mister." Velvet stated in a firm tone. Night Light could only sigh and mumble under his breath as he picked at his salad, ignoring his son's snickering.

Back in her lab, Twilight immediately rushed to the table, turned off her scanner and sat down in front of her computer. "Okay, the readings are sporadic, yet somewhat aggressive... and if I compare it to the more recent readings I've gotten… then this signature definitely belongs to the Crimson Dragon!" She smiled as she observed the newest strip chart, eagerly typing in several commands as the scanner zeroed in on the location of the most recent energy output. "Wait..." Twilight blinked in confusion, adjusting her glasses. "If these readings are correct, then the Crimson Dragon is... in the mountains outside the city...?" She mumbled to herself as she turned her attention to the window. "What could she possibly be doing this far out there?"

* * *

"AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!"

Sunset screamed in rage as she summoned a massive dragon's head to crush a boulder twice her size.

"You think I haven't been through enough Sunburst?! Is that it?!" Sunset yelled as she grabbed another rock and smashed it into gravel. "Oh, Mr. Hotshot Who Had Everything Fucking Given To Him has the GALL to say I'm going too far?! He doesn't know what I went through! He couldn't understand!" She ranted before turning her attention to a tall cliff, she drew back right arm and slammed her fist into it tremendous force the practically shook the Earth around her... however much to her surprise she found herself not looking at a pile of rubble... but what appeared to be a hidden cave of some sort...

"Where the hell…?" She whispered to herself as she came to examine it. "....well I got firepower to back me up.l, no reason to not investigate."

As she made her way into the cave she mentally commanded her ring to summon a sphere of energy around her, both to illuminate her path and to avoid getting crushed should a cave-in occur. Needless to say, the fact that this cave was a natural formation truly spoke for itself as she entered a cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites.

"Oh sure, sure. This isn't ominous or anything." Sunset said under her breath as she looked around. But as she did her ring began glowing once again.

_**Would you like to pick up where we left off before being disturbed?**_ It asked her with the voice of Atrocitus, indicating it meant the strange little history lesson it was giving her.

"...sure, why not? I got time to kill and at the least, it could help me get the hang of this Lantern stuff or whatever." She responded. The ring then gave a low humming as it gave off a pulse and the area around her was consumed in darkness as the symbol of her ring appeared beneath her, once more her surroundings were obscured by crimson flames, after a few seconds a familiar hulking figure stepped out of the Inferno.

"So..." Sunset began. "Who exactly was that guy? The Green Guardians' predecessor?"

**_They call themselves The Green Lanterns. Protectors of the universe._** The figure said as the environment changed and they were out in space. Atrocitus and the other Inversions now leaving the scene of a recent attack on a Manhunter manufacturing plant. **_Our first encounter came from when we had recently struck yet another blow against the foul machines of The Guardians. It had been one of our quickest victories._** He said with a wistful tone. However not long into the flight and suddenly a green burst of light erupted in front of them. The group was too surprised to properly defend themselves when the light soon shot out a green cube and trapped them.

"Oh wow, a big green cube. So scary. I'm sure you were able to bust out of there easily." Sunset said with a smirk.

**_The technology was created recently it seemed.... or perhaps it had been pure luck we had not yet encountered them. Our technology had no seeming way to penetrate the trap. The figure then got up close to us.... and to our shock it was organic. Much like us._** He said as the figure cleared up, showing a purple humanoid alien with a strange mark on its middle lips and pointed ears along with kind and gentle eyes. His suit a green and black suit with white gloves. **_To even my surprise, this individual, on top of being organic, was a more noble and valued life. Unlike those wretched Manhunters; Abin Sur._** He continued as the figure floated just outside the cube, seemingly conversing with their leader...

_**...which is more than I can say for his associate.** _

It was then that Sunset felt a chill go down her spine as another figure made himself visible. For a second she saw a flash of yellow behind him, and while the image was brief, she could have sworn the symbol behind him resembled the same one as the ring Pinkie Pie once wore.

**_The associate... was the cold as a machine Sinestro.... a man with high ambition and had little patience for any who broke the law... regardless of how justified their actions were._** Atrocitus said as the figure soon came into view. Another humanoid figure though this one had black hair, darker pink skin, a strange mustache, and a similar green attire, though if that yellow light was an indication he wouldn't wear that forever. **_He wished to have us executed on the spot. Said we were too dangerous to be kept alive._**

_'A little on the nose with the name, don't ya think?'_ Sunset thought as she observed the individual, finding it hard to believe that someone like this was part of what basically amounted to an intergalactic police force.

**_Abin, however, had other plans... as part of our punishment we were sent to the prison planet. Ysmault... a place of fire and rage and one that had never known an escaped prisoner._** The voice said as the scene shifted, Atrocitus now without his armor and simply locked up in a prison cell. And here... is where I would eventually- Atrocitus started... but then for some reason the hologram started phasing out.

"Oh come on! You stupid ring not now!" Sunset snarled as she slapped her ring and tried to turn it back on. "What in the hell is causing this now?! I'm all alone out here! Literally, nobody has followed me out here!"

"Well, someone's in a poor mood." A familiar voice chuckled. Sunset could only sigh in irritation and contempt as she glared over her shoulder. Standing at the cave entrance was none other than the Green Guardian herself. "Y'know, if you need to vent that badly, you might want to avoid doing it in such a way that draws attention to yourself. Imagine if one of those Black Lanterns that come for you instead?"

"...what the hell do you want?" Sunset sneered at her before looking for a way to leave before she tries talking again. "Trying to bore me? Trying to act like you're oh-so high and mighty?"

"Well, if you'll refrain from attacking me on sight like last time, I'm actually here to talk." The Guardian stated bluntly as she made her way towards the center of the cavern. "Assuming you want to listen that is..."

"Yeah whatever," Sunset said as she finally found a way out. "Great seeing you again. Though if you'd kindly LEAVE now that'd be great. Or better yet. How about I leave instead? I'm not in a mood to hear a self-righteous speech."

"Says the girl who thinks she's entitled to power?" The Guardian replied, not bothering to move as Sunset stormed past her. "For someone so aggressive, you have an odd habit of avoiding confrontation when it suits you."

"Maybe it's because I don't need to worry myself with fights that don't benefit me." Sunset sneered as she lit up her ring and flew off. The Guardian merely sighed as she looked around at the cave…

Unaware of a lone blank eyeball watching her before it was summoned back by a line of black energy...

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the city, at a five-star hotel called "Sweet and Elite", Adagio smirked with pride as she looked down at the city from the balcony. She had been somewhat hesitant at first, however, a well-sung tune allowed her to entrance just the right people that allowed her access to this luxurious Hotel without having to worry about how deep her pockets were. the moment she was sure that the effects of her spell were long-lasting, she demanded that she and her sisters be given the penthouse, as she'd accept nothing less than the finest.

And _boy_ did they provide for her!

Separate bedrooms, a spacious living room with a comfy couch and a widescreen TV, an indoor pool AND a hot tub, a lovely dining room with mouth-watering delicacies prepared by the finest chefs, as well as a balcony with a beautiful view of the city. To say that it was a step up from the hotel they had to stay in downtown was an _understatement_.

Heck, you could fit the entirety of their old hotel room into this place's _living room_!

She had to admit, she was honestly surprised that her entrancing melody could get her this far in such a short amount of time. But then again, that puddle of concentrated rage had given her a rush like never before... the very thought of how far they could get if they had one of those rings... they'd have the entire city under their thumb!

"DAGI! DAGI I GOT ARIA!" Sonata yelled after kicking in the door and dragging in her sister, who was carrying the more heavy bags that contained the last of their belongings from their old residence. "Soooo what's the big thing you wanted?!" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Ok girls..." She began as she made her way to the dining room. "...we've managed to regain a good amount of our powers, but before we can even think about going after those ring users, we'll need to make sure we're at 100%."

"Can't we just go back to the rage puddle?" Sonata asked as she joined Adagio, happily grabbing a plate full of tacos and closing down.

_'Dozens of options and several different delicacies she could chow down on and she still chooses tacos…'_ The lead Dazzling mentally sighed as she turned her attention to her own dish, a delicious Lobster. "While that is the default option, we'll need to make sure that we have a backup source of energy just in case," Adagio explained as she sat down. "The last thing we need is to run out of power at a crucial moment."

"Sure. And how do you plan on having us catch the orange one?" Aria asked as she simply sat down on the floor, completely exhausted from carrying the heavier bags. "Just throw a dart at someone and hope you can catch her?"

Adagio rolled her eyes at her sister's sarcastic tone. "And this is why _I'm_ in charge..." She grumbled under her breath before continuing. "Simple, first we simply observe her from afar. Properly deduce where she resides..."

"You really shink she won't notish shat she's being washed?" Sonata chimed in with a mouth full of food, having already started to eating while the two were conversing.

"That ring is the reason she's so mentally unstable... as long as we're careful, that shouldn't be much of an issue," Adagio replied.

"Oh sure sure. Aaaand if she notices us?" Aria asked as she continued to lay on the floor. "I mean you never considered that, did you? That she might fight back?"

"I'm sorry, do you have a _better_ plan? Or are you just here the question literally every decision I make for the heck of it!?" Adagio snapped, slamming her hands on the table in aggravation. "And for the love of God, get up off the floor! We're in the hotel! There's a perfectly comfortable couch five feet away from you!"

"Uuuugh, fine," Aria said as she got up off the floor just to collapsed onto the couch. "First off. No, I don't have a plan. However, I noticed you dodged my question. Am I to assume that means you DON'T have a plan either?"

The lead Dazzling narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Well, we obviously aren't going to stalk her out in the open. We'll stick to crowds and more populated areas while we pinpoint her location." She explained as she crossed her arms. "We know about her, but she doesn't know about us, that gives us the element of surprise. All we have to do is be subtle in our approach... then we can simply use our music to entrance her."

"...alright. That's actually a good plan." Aria said with a smirk. "So then. How do you propose we get her to listen to our music without arousing suspicion?"

"That's fairly simple..." Adagio smirked as she held up her gem, watching as it crackled with energy. "...we hold a little... concert."

* * *

Back in an underground cavern near the city, a lone feature sat on what appeared to be a throne of bones and rotting flesh. Before her was a swirling vortex of dark energy that displayed the brief conversation between the Crimson Dragon and the Green Guardian.

**_"Hmm... at least five ring users had made themselves known... yet only two of them bother to work together..."_** She mused it to herself as the vortex shifted to focus on the Green Guardian.

**_"Aaaah..... and there you are."_** The figure said with an amused chuckle. **_"Don't worry.... we'll meet again... sooner then you may think."_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another breather chapter for now. But next time, we get a visit from an unexpected guest... and a very disturbing reunion...
> 
> As always, be sure to support me on Patreon, every little bit helps!
> 
> To those who can, please help out on the TV Tropes page as well.


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